PCR Tech and IT retail, distribution and vendor news
Online marketplace OnBuy has seen its technology categories flourish following the site’s launch in November.
The site, which is backed by IT service provider Centerprise International, sells a variety of items, from consumer electronics and media to clothes and artwork, but it claims to have seen more traffic from tech-based sellers than any others.
“A huge amount of sellers who have joined us fit into the Electronics and Technology and Computer Games and Consoles categories,” said Cas Paton (pictured), MD of OnBuy’s umbrella company OnCommerce.
“We have plenty of sellers offering smartphones, accessories and electronic or ‘smart’ toys for Christmas,” he explained, adding that tech toys for kids, such as the Teksta Puppy, LeapPad Ultra and Furby, which are predicted for a successful Christmas were also commonplace on the site.
The toys join what the site claims to be over one million listed products, with a target of integrating every item with its checkout and payment services (provided in partnership with payment processing firm WorldPay) by Christmas. The integration is part of OnBuy’s plans to boost sales in the new year, ahead of a televised marketing campaign planned for October 2014.
OnBuy will also be hoping to rival marketplace services offered by Amazon, which it hopes to attract sellers away from by offering lower fees and closer co-operation between itself and its users.
“We don’t expect to be trading on the scale of Amazon immediately,” admitted Paton. “But we know that there is demand for an alternative marketplace that supports sellers instead of competing with them, and offering better value to traders will create better value for customers in turn.”
