Dorset-based eCommerce site is the first and only marketplace in the world to automatically discount seller fees during key sale periods, offering buyers savings at no additional cost to retailers
OnBuy.com, the world’s fastest-growing marketplace, is set to continue its pledge to support independent retailers throughout 2021 by cutting fees by 50% during key sale surges, an initiative unique to the marketplace.
Price drops, slashing prices on millions of products across the site, were achieved in 2020 by OnBuy’s unique offering to reduce its fees for sellers during the major sales periods – Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day. This initiative allowed buyers to enjoy discounted prices on every single product without the sellers’ profit margins being impacted – a disruptive move not seen in other online marketplaces.
OnBuy’s price drops on products during key retailing dates contributed towards 2020 becoming a landmark year for the company, resulting in huge successes for sellers trading through the platform.
These key sale periods supported OnBuy to achieve 500 per cent year on year growth from December 2019 to December 2020, record a sales increase from a run rate of £24 million to more than £170 million in one year (from 2019 to 2020) and report sales totalling just under £2.5 million on Black Friday alone. As OnBuy doesn’t compete with its sellers through selling its own stock, this success has been shared with the retailers selling through the platform, with many reporting significant growth during the key retailing periods and beyond.
One seller feeling the results of OnBuy’s efforts to support them has been Paperback Shop. Georgina Pursch, business development manager at Paperback Shop, commented: “We saw an amazing 500 per cent lift in sales on OnBuy during Black Friday. This is thanks to the fee discount given to help us drive down our prices and the additional marketing campaigns they provided to drive customers to the site.
“OnBuy’s support during Black Friday was unmatched by any other marketplace platform we work with and we greatly appreciate its refreshingly seller-focused attitude.”
Cas Paton, founder and CEO of OnBuy, said: “Our rapidly growing business is going from strength to strength, and we firmly believe in using that success to simultaneously increase growth for our sellers. During such a challenging time for retailers, we’re determined to continue with our promise to support our sellers throughout 2021.
“We’re much more than a marketplace – we provide an opportunity for retailers of all sizes to succeed. OnBuy’s mission is to be a fair, transparent and ethical marketplace, so we’re dedicated to helping sellers maximise their profits with the huge opportunities presented by key sales periods. We’ve been choosing to discount our sales fees during key retail periods to show our sellers just how committed we are to driving their success.
“Unlike other platforms, where sellers are pushed to lower their prices, we cover the costs instead. Independent retailers need all the profit they can get, especially during a pandemic. OnBuy is challenging the status quo, which is why we put our hands in our own pockets to help our sellers benefit hugely from these key sales surges.”
OnBuy is set to embark on a definitive growth plan for 2021 to support its mission to achieve unicorn status from its Dorset head office within the next two years. 2021 plans include launching the marketplace into more than 42 countries, which are part of globalisation plans to expand into over 140 countries by year-end 2023. To accommodate its worldwide expansion, the eCommerce business has plans to increase its Dorset-based team over the coming years.
For more information on OnBuy, visit www.onbuy.com.