Hybrid eCommerce Platform Giving Subscribers Unlimited Organic Reach

Opportunity Snapshot

Investment Opportunity

A hybrid eCommerce/social VRM/CRM website that allows a subscriber to promote content BEYOND their existing social and professional networks in a market worth $21B P/A.

This is a hybrid eCommerce/social website that allows subscribers, both business and private, to promote content, ideas and products beyond their existing social and professional networks, giving them unlimited organic reach beyond their existing networks. With organic subscriber reach diminishing as social and eCommerce sites grow larger and more fractured, the site is set to rewire the web, offering subscribers genuine, opt-in communication with a vast online network of like-minded individuals in the spirit of true VRM/CRM.

The Problem:
The online environment as it currently stands is increasingly limiting – not extending – all our ability to communicate ideas, innovate and engage in effective eCommerce. How so? Because existing social networks do not allow for a promotable eCommerce component whilst eCommerce sites do not allow for a promotable social component. This means that companies and their customers (and potential customers) are kept further distanced by the vested interests of the large social and eCommerce sites whose business models are based on charging to connect people.

The Solution:
Our site reverses this model by giving users – both individuals and companies – the software, coupled with a robust social and eCommerce platform, to promote ideas and products beyond their existing networks. By deploying our differentiable tech stack the need for a company to ‘pipe in’ software solutions is removed: eCommerce, marketing and customer relations all take place from one highly targetable location.
Customers access the same software to reply and communicate – also being heard beyond their own networks. The result is a win-win situation: businesses can finally listen to consumers who in turn can genuinely communicate their opinions and be heard, becoming willing brand ambassadors as part of a genuinely egalitarian eCommerce and social networking experience.

The Market
This combination of misguided Customer Relations Management CRM applications, the inability to promote beyond a subscriber’s existing networks, and declining organic reach on existing social sites is apparent in the market figures: the online eCommerce market was $1,700 trillion in 2015, with $29 trillion being retail spending, with predictions that this figure is set to top $1,922 trillion in 2016, increasing to $2,143 trillion in 2017, and $2,356 trillion in 2018 respectively (Source: Statista.com, 2016).

However, these figures need to be taken into context to understand the enormous potential for our site to grow our market share: the total number of eCommerce sites on the net is currently 12,000, with only 650,000 stores selling more than $1000 per annum. (Source, Emarketeer.com, 2016) When this is taken into context with the statistic that 0% of eCommerce sites top 1 million by Alexa Ranking (Source: Alexa.com, 2015) the outcome is clear: traffic drives revenue and businesses overall are struggling to drive this traffic to their sites. This is where we step in.

We predict – based on the escalation of the CRM segment that measures consumer ‘sentiment’ – that where the interests of consumers and companies meet online in order to promote one-to-one relationships online retailers can actively pursue an increased share of the online retail market worth $1,700 trillion annually. This is concurrent with creating a hitherto untapped multi-billion dollar CRM/VRM market set to eclipse the current CRM market of $21 billion annually.

Competitive Advantage

There is no platform, portal, interface or website that allows subscribers, private and business, to promote content for free beyond their existing networks. This is because the revenue models of the large social and eCommerce sites operate a paid reach system/advertising which discriminates against individuals and businesses.

Our site reverses this model and concept, offering subscribers free on board software to meet, chat, sell and promote beyond a user's existing network. As our site actually leverages the large social sites to further promote our subscribers' reach, the more successful our competition becomes the more successful we become, aligning our competitive advantage with our site deployment.

Rationale for the deal

Exit Strategy:
We plan second round funding in 12-18 months with interested VC's (Octopus Ventures), with an exit in 5-7 years to a communications company, such as Mobli, who have shown a vested interest and propensity to buy companies with technology that more closely matches real-world communication (their purchase of Pheed for £35 million in 2015 being a good example).

The Team:
We have assembled a committed and talented team with experience in delivering IT driven business value with budgets up to TCV £35m, including several end to end full engagement life-cycle experiences, including business change management and integration, transition from vendors, in-sourcing, vendor management, project rescue and complex implementation strategies and more. Our in-house marketing strategist has worked for some of the world’s best agencies on three continents, including DDB Needham, TBWA and the WPP network, on some of the world’s leading brands including McDonalds, GM, Ford, HP, Adidas and Levi’s, plus a host of smaller brands, across all types of media.

Use of financing

We are seeking a £15,000 (US$20,000) investment to match the existing £15,000 investment committed by our developer, to be used for: 1) £10,000 to complete web platform to launch, and 2) £5,000 to be used for marketing, specifically Vlog influencers at a reach of 25 million with a conversion rate of 2%, equating to 500,000 subscribers in the first 6 months (not accounting for inbuilt exponential growth).

Opportunity for the investor

We are seeking a £15,000 ($20,000) investment for 10% equity (we are a UK Ltd.)

We predict business conversions at 20% business, equating to 100,000 business subscribers. Based on an aggregate 8% commission on items sold through the site at an ultra conservative £5 per business per month this equates to £0.40 per month per business in revenue, or £40,000 a month representing £480,000 in Year 1 (excluding site advertising, SaaS subscriptions).

Business plan, financial forecasts, marketing plan, site specifications and investor deck available upon request.

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