TheMarket

TheMarket is a New Zealand based e-commerce shopping platform based in Auckland. TheMarket uses an online marketplace model by aggregating products from over 250 stores and brands from all over the world onto a single platform, making it the largest e-commerce platform in New Zealand. The Market operates an independent business and it is backed by The Warehouse Group, New Zealand's largest general merchandise retailer.
The company’s headquarter is located in the upscale retail district, Newmarket, Auckland. TheMarket sells electronics and computers, apparel, food essentials, personal care, footwear, whiteware, fashion accessories, beauty products, books, music and movies, home accessories, furniture, lifestyle products, pet and several other products. TheMarket.com created a membership program, TheMarket Club for its users to offer free shipping, exclusive offers, priority customer service and reduced price on bulk orders for a monthly or yearly fee.
== History ==
TheMarket was founded in 2018 by CEO Justus Wilde, backed by The Warehouse Group Investments as a part of their digital transformation initiative. On August 1, 2019, the mobile-first platform was launched with over 1500 brands and 1 million products. To launch TheMarket held an opening ceremony, an exclusive industry event for media, influencers, brand owners and stakeholders. The event was hosted by media presenter Kanoa Lloyd and featured live demonstrations and presentations by Justus Wilde (CEO, TheMarket), Sarah Gunn (GM of Trade, TheMarket) and Nick Grayston (CEO, The Warehouse Group). There was also a panel discussion with special guests Karen Walker (NZ Designer), Jamie Whiting (MD Barkers, Max Group) and Stuart Higgins (GM Product Cotton on Group).
TheMarket launches with manywell known brands such as New Zealand  brands Karen Walker, WORLD, Father Rabbit, Citta and Barkers, and global brands such as Cotton On, Cue, Billabong, and The Nile. The major categories include fashion, kids and baby, home and living, beauty and health, toys and games, electronics and computers, sports and outdoors, books, music and movies, stationery and office, DIY garden and pet.
== Funding and business model ==
TheMarket was funded by The Warehouse Group Investments with an initial start-up fund of $12 million investment. Although operationally separate from The Warehouse Group, TheMarket utilises some of the group’s assets.
TheMarket holds some of its own inventory and primarily operates utilising a dropship business model where third-party business-to-consumer (B2C) retailers’ dispatch orders. Brands come from these third-party retailers. TheMarket launched with 100+ retailers in August 2019 and grew to over 200 retailers by November 2019. TheMarket announced that they will increase to over 400 retaillersby the early 2020.
TheMarket launched its first subscription program, TheMarket Club, on 6 Nov 2019 which offers free shipping as well as stream services and “echoes global giant Amazon”.
== Click and collect MarketPoints ==
TheMarket uses an established an organised network of ‘MarketPoint’ sites within The Warehouse Groups’ existing 242 physical locations throughout New Zealand, including The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, Noel Leeming and Torpedo7 stores and Rural MarketPoint sites are operated by FarmSource in partnership with Fonterra. Currently, there are 72 MarketPoint sites with plans to expand to 300 nationwide. MarketPoint are sites within existing retail stores where customers can collect and return goods purchased from TheMarket, similar to what Amazon does with Amazon Hub or ASOS’s Click and Collect.
== Digital marketing ==
Focused on content marketing, TheMarket utilises a marketing mix of social shopping, Influencer Marketing, blog content, trend insights and performance marketing to “inspire, guide, and entertain” customers. TheMarket’s uses an innovative #topics in the ‘Discover’ section to amalgamate content and allows consumers to browse in a rich content format.
TheMarkets’ ‘shop social’ social shopping section aggregates Instagram content from its brand partners, directly linking posts to featured products to purchase on TheMarket, similar to Shopping on Instagram.
TheMarket’s blog covers all shopping categories and more than 200 articles were published at launch.
Additionally, retailers can control how their store branding on TheMarket’s CMS.
== Management ==
Justus Wilde is a digital retail executive with a career spanning over 20 years’ experience working in consultancy, technical and business leadership roles across Australia, USA, Hong Kong, China and New Zealand. TheMarket appointed Justus Wilde as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) in 2018. Wilde assembled TheMarket team who began working on the project early 2018.
== In the media ==
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== References ==
== External link ==
* Official website 
* TheMarket on Youtube
* TheMarket on Facebook
* TheMarket on Instagram
* TheMarket on Linkedin
Category:E-commerce
Category:Companies established in 2018