Ecommerce website specialist launches new platform for wholesalers

Software-as-a-service (SaaS) ecommerce website specialist Shopblocks has launched a new platform to expand its offer to wholesalers and manufacturers.

The £500,000 tech platform has been dubbed Stockport.com, referencing the company’s base at No.1 St Peter’s Square in the town centre, and the firm has ambitions for the new business arm to hit £100 million turnover in the coming years.

Shopblocks co-founder and CEO Kevin Jones said:

“We’ve spent four years and £500,000 creating stockport.com and we believe it fixes the big hard problems that are out there in the world of ecommerce.

“We’re really proud to be based in Stockport. We’ve been in Stockport for a number of years and have just agreed a long-term lease in the centre of Stockport. I see stockport.com as being a £100m turnover business in a couple of years.

“The new platform allows manufacturers and wholesalers to grow their ecommerce revenue by automating processes across their various channel partners.

“In its simplest form we provide the ‘plumbing’ that sits behind a website to make sure things like transactional orders, product pricing, stock levels etc are all synced together. It’s a game-changer for the industry.

“We’re proud to be based in Stockport so when somebody suggested stockport.com for a name it seemed like serendipity.”

The platform will allow businesses selling online to keep their ecommerce website synchronised with other business information, such as stock levels and supplier and distributor pricing, in real-time and allow manufacturers and wholesalers to offer a smoother service comparable to that offered by B2C ecommerce.

Stockport.com will also allow for payment on larger orders to be made through financing, leasing or other agreements rather than through a debit or credit card that may be unsuitable for large B2B purchases. Jones explained:

“When a customer comes onto your website to buy something, often they don’t want to pay for a high value order on a debit or credit card.

“For example if they’re buying a big piece of equipment they may want to buy it on a credit agreement or a lease. It needs connections to a finance company to get a quote, electronic signature and contract organised.

“Stockport.com inserts a layer that suddenly makes eCommerce possible for all these companies.

“In B2B commerce, order values can be in the tens of thousands. A discount, asset finance or some sort of leasing agreement comes into play.

“Stockport.com can provide connections to the distributors, connections to the finance companies and a great eCommerce website powered by Shopblocks.”