Why Your Business Needs To Sell With OnBuy Right Now

Nobody is forgetting 2020 in a hurry – certainly not OnBuy! As a fairer, more transparent and ethical marketplace, we know the road for retailers has been rocky recently. Yet by taking a different approach to eCommerce, as a marketplace that supports our sellers rather than acting as competition to them, OnBuy’s growing incredibly fast!

We’ve created a revolutionary marketplace that works with you, rather than competing against you. This approach has created exponential growth: we’ve grown 24,000% in just four years and we’re constantly breaking our sales records - and because we’re not a retailer ourselves, our success translates directly into success for our sellers.

Read on to discover the pillars that have powered our growth – and why those are the key to growing your business.

With 2020 coming to a close, we’ve been reflecting on our values, and what they mean to the sellers who list with us.

It’s not just about creating a marketplace in the truest sense of the word – meaning we’re not a retailer, and that we hold no stock to sell against the products you list with us. It’s more than that.

Millions of OnBuy customers appreciate the variety of what they can purchase on our platform – and many of them value the fact they’re supporting independent businesses to do it.

We know this because of our sellers – OnBuy’s dynamic community of SMEs, household brands, independent businesses and family firms. We’re proud to have created a marketplace that supports sellers of all shapes and sizes.

Besides the tools and resources we offer sellers, OnBuy wins sellers’ trust and keeps growing because we champion the values that we believe this industry needs to remain sustainable.

We’re going to lift the veil on what those values are, why we believe in them so passionately, and what makes them different from marketplaces you might have worked with in the past, by putting you and your business first.

OnBuy will never slow down or stifle your business to give itself an advantage – meaning selling with us is more like a partnership, rather than jumping through hoops, trying to appease a platform that’s supposed to support you.

Here’s how our beliefs have shaped the marketplace that sellers of all kinds are using to springboard growth in 2020 and beyond.

We recognise that you just want to list your inventory, grow your business and connect effectively to happy customers. For OnBuy, the game plan has always been to promote fair play, healthy competition and a level playing field for sellers of all sizes.

On our marketplace, a sole trader or small family business can go shoulder-to-shoulder with larger businesses or big brands and still find success.

It’s about creating an ethical eCommerce ecosystem. Sellers choose OnBuy because we encourage healthy competition among businesses, rather than competing against those businesses ourselves.

Sellers also choose OnBuy because they recognise they’re not a ‘third party’ with us. Instead, sellers are the heart of the OnBuy experience, and the immense 24,000% growth our marketplace has achieved reflects that.

No matter your size, the age of your business, the level of your turnover or your geographic location, OnBuy unlocks the same tools for everyone using our platform as a route to market.

We’re not a retailer, so we won’t compete against you. When you want to crack on and sell your products, all our resources are ready and waiting.

Likewise, when you’re ready to scale up and grow, we’ll unlock the integrations, partnerships and tools to help you. It’s as simple as that.

Becoming the world’s fastest-growing marketplace, empowered by ethical business, means that OnBuy has needed to move fast and adopt new strategies, new features or new best practices in short order.

Sometimes our decisions are based on a ‘Blue Ocean’ business strategy – those bold new ideas nobody’s ever done before. Other times, we implement changes that let sellers and customers enjoy the advantages that are being standardised in eCommerce today.

Either way, transparency is at the core of how OnBuy communicates. We’ve proactively communicated how we intend to support businesses in the global health crisis, never restricting what they can or cannot sell on our platform – unlike other marketplaces.

Likewise, features like Boost, which helps sellers to market their products, and launching our Sale Price tool to help sellers discount any of their inventory on their own terms, means OnBuy is putting the power in sellers’ hands.

OnBuy believes in supporting independent business, and part of that is being upfront and honest in both our triumphs and our challenges together. By lifting the curtain, we intend to remain accessible and approachable as you grow with us.

Online shopping is bigger business than ever, but that’s no excuse for poor working conditions, unfair wages, burnout-inducing demands or environmentally damaging processes.

The spotlight is shining brighter than ever on bad actors – yet in OnBuy’s eyes, ethical business has been the name of the game from day one. We’ve set out to show that consistent, profitable growth is possible in ethical eCommerce – and definitely proven it!

OnBuy believes eCommerce is the future, but it doesn’t have to destroy the high street or demolish independent businesses to do that. Our marketplace can complement your existing physical business, or provide a multichannel marketing strategy instead.

Beyond fairness and transparency to sellers, and to never favour larger or more successful businesses over others, this philosophy also extends to OnBuy’s team.

Growing so much in 2020 meant tripling our workforce, and throughout, our outlook has been to attract talent irrespective of background. Likewise, communication, flat management structure and rewarding a job well done are central to how we do business.

Happy staff make a company hum with life. Happy customers come back to ethical, reliable marketplaces – and happy sellers are able to provide the best, most varied and most exciting products for everyone.

OnBuy believes in empowering individuals and businesses to fulfil their greatest potential – perhaps to then even realise bigger successes than they ever imagined possible.

Throughout the health crisis, our recruitment drive has provided careers and opportunities to people, irrespective of race, gender, age, sexuality, religion or anything else.

What matters to us is drive and passion – and it’s a similar story for our sellers. OnBuy doesn’t shut off resources or tools from smaller businesses – everyone selling with us has the same equal playing field.

Every seller has access to the same opportunities and resources as one another, meaning that it is an online retailer’s own initiative, ambition and capability that will boost their growth on OnBuy – not the unpredictable whims of a goliath marketplace.

2020 has been a challenging year, testing the strength of businesses big and small, as well as putting plenty of pressure on communities, families and friendships.

OnBuy and the world of eCommerce have each shown tremendously strong signs of growth, as shopping online becomes seen not only as a lifeline, but a growing dynamic in the ‘new normal’ our society is creating together.

Driven by these changes, OnBuy promises to remain ethical, fair, transparent and avid promoters of equality and business opportunity. We’ve got an incredibly exciting future: we’re set to light up TV screens throughout the UK, while preparing to launch into over 140 countries worldwide in the next three years, all in partnership with leading fulfilment and integrations providers.

Whether you’re going global alongside us, sticking to the domestic market, broadening the reach of your established online retail business or going into this industry for the very first time, OnBuy is here to help you succeed – and always will be.