In another challenge to struggling Aussie retailers, a new e-commerce platform has been launched which directly links consumers to foreign factories on a mass-market scale.
Container Door aims to take around $140 million from bricks and mortar in the next three years. However, founder Ben Nathan says the Australian retail environment is ready for a disruptor like Container Door.
“We offer the same products that consumers will find in-store at a fraction of the cost by cutting out the middleman,” he says.
Nathan started his business after years of importing apparel to major retail chains and his clients started sourcing direct from factories, cutting out his wholesale business.
Rather than fight them he started Container Door and took it one step further, not only cutting out the wholesaler but the retailer as well, selling products straight from the factories to the consumer at reduced prices.
The business made its debut in New Zealand in 2015 and has now shipped around 80,000 products.
“In three years of operation overseas, we’ve learnt that consumers are more than willing to wait six to eight weeks for their purchases to arrive if the savings are worth it. In fact, they get what we call ‘double gratification’―the initial buzz of bagging a bargain and then the thrill when it arrives at their doorstep.”
