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e-commerce
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E-commerce is one of the fastest-growing industries, and it has been for a while. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, online retail sales in the U.S. amounted to around $5 billion in 1998. Just over two decades later, in 2020, U.S. e-commerce sales reached roughly $815 billion. Further, total global e-commerce sales reached about $5.2 trillion in 2021.

That being said, it is still a very young industry in the grand scheme of things. E-commerce is only feasible due to the development and adaptation of what came to be known as the Internet, so it has only been around for about forty years.

Since e-commerce is irrevocably intertwined with technology, it is also heavily impacted by new technologies or innovative approaches. So, the e-commerce landscape is constantly shifting, trying to adapt to technological advancements.

This can make it hard for small e-commerce brands to get started, and it can also be challenging for existing brands in the space. Further, this constantly changing environment makes it hard for retail investors to get into this booming market.

With so many new e-commerce businesses popping up, it can be hard for a retail investor to find an appropriate brand following his visions. On top of that, not all e-commerce brand owners want to sell their brands. Scaleup Brands is a digital marketplace for e-commerce brands where (small) retail investors can buy e-commerce brands or brand concepts.

How the e-commerce brand marketplace works

To ensure the best experience for all involved parties, Scaleup Brands doesn't allow anyone to simply put up a brand for sale. In fact, the digital marketplace for e-commerce brands goes to great lengths to ensure that both investors and brand owners meet its high standards.

If an investor is interested in acquiring an e-commerce brand or a brand concept, Scaleup Brands makes sure that the investor is trustworthy and able to pay for the brand. Before potential investors get put in touch with brand owners, they get evaluated by a team of experts deployed by the platform.

Likewise, if brand owners want to put an established e-commerce brand or a brand concept up for sale, they get interviewed by a team of experts and have to provide the documentation necessary for the process.

After that, the experts verify and analyze all the data and documents to make sure that only quality brands or concepts make it into the Scaleup Brands marketplace. Of course, privacy and security are important topics for such a marketplace, which is why all sensitive data is stored in a well-protected environment.

Traditionally, if a brand owner wants to sell their brand, they need to find an investor who is willing to buy it. This process can be very long and tiresome.

This becomes exasperated in fast-changing, globally-connected industries like e-commerce since investors who are looking to get into e-commerce can have a hard time judging the fast-paced market. Additionally, finding a fitting brand in the sea of e-commerce brands is even more challenging.

Scaleup Brands' digital marketplace for e-commerce brands and brand concepts fills the void between brand owners and retail investors. On top of that, it provides investors with advice at every step of the process, ensuring that they can fully utilise their new e-commerce brand.

The future of e-commerce

It is clear that innovative new technologies definitely are going to have a big impact on e-commerce in the future. Apart from that, digital marketplaces for brands might also have a big impact on the global e-commerce market.

The e-commerce industry has more or less been booming since its inception, and many brands and investors have made lots of profits during the past decades. That being said, the investors who usually profit from e-commerce are venture capital investors.

Further, with the global market becoming more and more saturated, the relative number of e-commerce brands that are going to be massively successful like Amazon is shrinking.

However, there are still many e-commerce brands or brand concepts that are successful and generate a great return on investment. A digital marketplace where e-commerce brand owners can connect with investors ensures that the healthy foundation of e-commerce is kept alive.