Faire and b8ta: Similar but Different

Retail
Written By Rick Watson

No one wants to own assets, and now the penetration of the marketplace model into physical retail is exploding.  Good time to be in the marketplace business.

Two big announcements today:

  1. b8ta launched what I call a white-label version of its solution - ark marketplace - with a nifty 3 letter domain name (tough to come by!) where any retailer with extra floor space can launch an in-store marketplace concept powered by b8ta.  I think this will be super-popular.  Oh yeah, just raised $50M.

  2. Faire just cracked the $1B valuation mark on top of a $150M raise today.  Local retailers can connect w/ the best makers to stock in-stores."

These are competitive in different ways.  b8ta is the closest approximation to an actual marketplace model IN A STORE.  Faire is more traditional merchandising with marketplace wholesale sourcing model.  So you still need to own it, though.

Rick Watson

Rick Watson founded RMW Commerce Consulting after spending 20+ years as a technology entrepreneur and operator exclusively in the eCommerce industry with companies like ChannelAdvisor, BarnesandNoble.com, Merchantry, and Pitney Bowes.

Watson’s work today is centered on supporting investors and management teams incubating and growing direct-to-consumer businesses. Most recently, in partnership with WHP Global, Rick was a critical resource in architecting the WHP+ platform, a new turnkey direct to consumer digital e-commerce platform that powers AnneKlein.com and JosephAbboud.com.

Watson also hosts a weekly podcast, Watson Weekly, where he shares an unbiased, unfiltered expert take on the retail sector’s biggest players.

In the past year alone, Rick has spoken at many in-person and virtual events as well as podcasts on topics ranging from retail/ecom to supply chain/logistics and even digital grocery including CommerceNext IRL, ASCM Connect, and Retail Innovation Conference.

https://www.rmwcommerce.com/
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