Forrester defines a marketplace as a place where “[Brands] sell physical items or services on a site other than their own.” Since Brands who sell online are the brand owners, they usually stock and fulfil their own products (apart from some exceptions, such as when using a 3rd party logistics provider, like Veo’s Fulfilment warehouse). This results in a highly effective multi-channel sales model, which allows Brands to sell across multiple sales channels and develop strong brand awareness amongst their target demographic.

Alternatively, a multi-brand retailer (or Stockist) will sell products from various brands directly to the consumer, handling everything from storage to fulfilment to customer service, so they tend to have a smaller inventory and also require much higher margins (30-70%).

So from a brand owner’s perspective, it is usually easier to sell your products through a marketplace than through a multi-brand retailer, as the process of entering into a supplier partnership with the latter is generally lengthier and more complex than getting started as a marketplace Brand.

Consumers choose marketplaces: Global online retail is set to exceed $6 trillion by 2023, and in 2016 over 50% online retail B2C spend came from marketplaces. By 2022, this share is expected to exceed 66% two-thirds if current growth trends continue.

Ready customer base: According a Forrester report, 53% of consumers who shop online are making purchases on marketplaces 3 or more times per month. Marketplaces can therefore offer access to a huge base of both existing and new customers.

Access to new audiences: Selling through marketplaces allows Brands to serve customer segments they may not have previously targeted. According to Forrester, more than 80% of consumers said that marketplaces have introduced them to new brands that they would not have known of otherwise.

International reach: Marketplaces offer brands a way of testing the waters in new international markets. Many brands are able to achieve overseas sales, into markets and countries that they had not yet targeted.

Range expansion: Similarly, marketplaces allow Brands and brands to extend their online offering and test new product lines.

Brand building: Marketplaces also allow Brands and brands to build an internationally recognised brand and be visible among brands that complement their own proposition, ethos, values, and positioning.

Improved customer experience: Marketplaces offer Brands a new way to engage and interact with their customers – and shoppers increasingly expect their favourite brands to be on marketplaces. Forrester’s study found that marketplaces are likely to boost customer loyalty, increase average order values, and build trust – all of which have positive knock-on effects for the brands selling through them.

Improved product discovery: The average shopper opens up 6+ tabs to shop on multiple sites, and shoppers are searching across up to 8 categories at any one time. Marketplaces bring all brands and products together in one platform, targeted to specific user interests and demographics, providing a cohesive and connected journey for product & brand discovery.

Stock clearance: They can also act as an extra channel for clearing existing stock. This is particularly effective for perishables or food & drink that has a best before date, and Brands can use special promotions or activities to ensure that the stock is sold, or goes towards a good cause, and doesn’t go to waste.

For us earth friendly perfectly sums up what we believe our consumption should be = friendly to the earth, and everything on it.

We’ve listed a few examples of our key drivers, and why we’re super passionate about being earth friendly:

• According to Eileen Fisher the Retail manufacturing industry is the 2nd most polluting industry on earth, second only to Oil.
• Deloitte’s Fashioning Sustainability study 2013 found that continuing business as usual, at current rate and manner of consumption, there is need for 3 planet Earths by 2050.
• According to World Wildlife Fund’s 2016 Report ‘Living Planet’ humans are depleting natural resources 50% faster than the planet can renew.
• ‘Public Health Nutrition’ study 2018 found that deteriorating food standards are affecting our health, as poor diet and ultra-processed foods are driving an obesity epidemic, and public health disaster leading to an increase in heart disease, cancer, and strokes.
• In his ‘Global Supply Chain Standards and the Poor’ economist Johan F. M. Swinnen found that resources for agri-food and global retail chains are often imported from low-income nations, affecting rural development and poverty, and causing catastrophic levels of emissions and pollution.
• The WWF report also found the populations of animal species have dropped an average of 30% since 1970.

Kindness: a main ambition of Veo is to promote dignity and quality of life for all humans and non-humans. This means upholding human rights, labour rights and worker rights, and promoting equity, equality, fairness and social justice in society and all communities across the world. This includes promoting animal rights, establishing a cruelty free zone, 100% vegan friendly, without the consumption or use of any animal products, by-products, animal testing, or exploitation.

Health: health and safety are a fundamental dimension to quality of life. This means promoting a way of living free from toxins, harmful chemicals, and hazardous substances that can cause health problems, either from contamination in our food or by acute toxicity in the everyday products we use. From this we look to prevent contamination in our Brand supply chains, production processes and products, and promote only clean, natural, healthy living.

Green: planet awareness, sustainability and biodiversity. This refers to the variety of animals, plants, ecosystems, their habitats and genes on which all life depends. Biodiversity is the foundation of all life on earth, and we depend on it for our wellbeing and survival. Biodiversity also underpins the global economy, our global food chain, and provision of goods and services, therefore, protecting the environment is critical to ensure responsible and sustainable consumption. This includes conserving our natural resources (renewable and non-renewable), recycling, reducing pollution, stimulating good water stewardship, and promoting #veganic (organic + vegan) agriculture as the only systematic approach to sustainable agriculture and food production.

It doesn’t cost anything to join.

There is no joining fee, no setup costs, no listing fees, and no obligatory marketing costs.

We charge a 15% commission on each order once your products have sold.

The customer purchases their products, makes payment, and the full net sale price (minus 15%) is deposited into your Brand account.

Commission is exclusive of UK Vat at 20%.

Rather than a ‘fee’, we prefer to call it an investment: an investment of time, resource, and innovation. It allows us to invest in your web shop, invest in improving the Veo technology platform, invest in your marketing, invest in our team and staff, and invest in our ethical projects and partner organisations.

The 15% from each sale goes towards the upkeep of all the Brand shops across the Veo marketplace, it goes into our full mix marketing campaigns promoting all the brands & products, and it goes into spreading awareness about the benefits of healthy ethical sustainable living.

It also goes towards our monthly sponsorship and outreach work, which supports various charities, social enterprises, and positive impact organisations, businesses, and community groups. Stay tuned to our Blog, Social Media, and sign up to our newsletter for updates on our work and projects.

Veo marketplace has 4 core categories, which are:

• Fashion & Apparel: including clothing, footwear, active wear, jewellery, accessories, hats, bags, belts, shoes, trainers, bangles, bracelets, etc.
• Health & Beauty: including makeup, cosmetics, haircare, skincare, toiletries, bath & shower, wellbeing, hygiene, beautification.
• Food & Drink: including snacks, treats, confectionery, baking, delicatessen, grocery, beverages, sports nutrition, supplements, alcohol, edibles.
• Home & Lifestyle: which includes everything else you can think of, including home, garden, decor, art, prints, crafts, furniture, books, toys, gifts, candles, electrical, sound & lighting, media, games, and everything else.

There is almost no limit to what products approved Brands can sell in their shops. (There’s only a few exclusions for some of the obvious things you might expect like: no weapons, pornography, tobacco, or gambling.

Once you join Veo to open your shop we’ll assist you with the best categories and sub-categories to ensure that your products can be found by shoppers looking for them.

Once you’re a Veo Brand, one of your first decisions will be whether or not you ship using Veo Fulfilment, Vendor Fulfilled (“fulfilment by the Brand”), or both.

1. Veo Fulfilment is the option for Brands to have their orders stored, picked, packed, and fulfilled directly from the Veo warehouse and international couriers.
2. Vendor Fulfilled is the option for Brands to fulfil their own orders stored (store, pick, pack, & deliver) from their own office or storage premises and selected couriers.
3. Both: is the option for Brands to use different options depending on their products or categories. For example, a Brand may wish to have the more popular products that sell more regularly be fulfilled by Veo, and may wish to keep some of the less regular (e.g. seasonal products) to fulfil from their own premises. But the different products can circulate throughout the year, or for certain promotions, or as popularity across different product lines increases.

The best way to decide between the two options is to gauge the size and scope of your business and understand the most efficient, cost effective, and most suitable option for your Veo marketplace sales.

If you’re interested to learn about having your orders fulfilled by Veo you will be able to note this on your Application Form under section ‘Fulfilment’. (The Application Form will be sent to all Brands who complete the initial Expression of Interest form at the top of this page.)

Yes, we have API integrations with many of the popular Stock Inventory software and middleware management solutions.

If you already sell on a number of online channels, like your own website ecommerce shop, and maybe even other marketplaces (!), then you’ll understand the importance of managing your stock across all these channels.

With our API integration you are able to plug Veo straight in to your existing stock inventory management software, and keep track of all your stock levels, product listings, and sales across multiple channels.

Yes! We are a global marketplace, with a growing worldwide customer base, and we invite sellers and Brands from around the world to open their Veo shop.

A few requirements for non-UK Brands are:

• All brand information and product descriptions should be in English
• Brands are able to fulfil their orders internationally, or store their products with Veo and fulfil from our warehouse in the UK
• Relevant international sales taxes and duties are the responsibility of the Brand. Any customs or duties payable by shoppers must be clearly communicated on the product pages / Brand shop page

If you are an overseas Brand looking to join Veo please feel free to complete the ‘Expression of Interest’ Form at the top of this page to get started, and we will get in touch with more details.