B2B Sourcing Platform BuyHive Launches in US, UK

BuyHive, a Hong Kong-based B2B global sourcing platform, announced Monday it had launched local operations in markets in the U.S. and U.K.

According to a news release, BuyHive hopes to support the sourcing and procurement needs for a fast-growing base of third-party sellers. The company recently debuted its global Expert Sourcing Network, which lets American and European sellers hire local experts in all major Asian countries for their sourcing.

These regions are home to millions of third-party sellers using marketplaces like eBay and Amazon or running their own online stores through Shopify. BuyHive says it lets these sellers source high-quality goods from manufacturing destinations like China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand or India with the help of a local expert.

“For the first time ever, small- or mid-sized online retailers and D2C brands serving the U.S. or European markets can execute a global sourcing strategy to match the world’s largest retail chains via the BuyHive platform,” said Minesh Pore, co-founder and CEO of BuyHive.

“We are enabling access to highly reliable and locally based sourcing experts spread throughout Asia. Every single one of them has been carefully vetted by us and comes with a minimum of five years of industry experience, having worked for some of the world’s biggest brands.”

Read more: Multichannel Support Gives Third-Party Sellers New Marketplace Avenues

The company says Amazon third-party sellers are estimated to generate more than 60% of the gross merchandise value (GMV) and more than half of the retail goliath’s gross sales.

Amazon is further estimated to have over 6 million third-party sellers worldwide, half of them in North America. In addition, nearly 7 in 10 of the 3.8 million Shopify-powered stores were based in the U.S., while another 4% and 2% of live Shopify stores respectively were in the U.K. and Germany.

As PYMNTS reported last month, a number of online sellers have begun looking for alternatives to Amazon’s marketplace dominance, with Shopify named as the most aggressive competitor.

As The Wall Street Journal said, Shopify “gives merchants access to cloud-based third-party services such as payments and fulfillment, but lets them maintain more control of their branding and customer relationships than the biggest marketplaces offer.”

Adding fuel to the fire, Shopify CEO Tobias Lütke tweeted, “Amazon is trying to build an empire, and Shopify is trying to arm the rebels.”

BuyHive said it is working with American and Europe-based sellers in categories such as home and garden; fashion, health and beauty; and jewelry and watches, among others.

“Over the next few months, we will be focusing on the fastest growing online retail categories, including clothing and apparel, home and garden, and car and trucks,” Pore said.