Company:Soldsie

From HandWiki
Soldsie
TypePrivate
IndustryTechnology
Founded2012
FounderChris Bennett, Arrel Gray
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California,
United States
Key people
Chris Bennett (Co-Founder)
Arrel Gray (Co-Founder)
Websitehttp://www.soldsie.com

Soldsie is a social eCommerce platform founded in 2012 and based in San Francisco, California. The company developed tools that enabled businesses to sell products directly through social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram by allowing customers to purchase items via comments.

History

Soldsie is based in San Francisco, CA. Co-founders Chris Bennett (CEO) and Arrel Gray (CTO) met through the startup community of Silicon Valley in 2011. They launched Soldsie in May 2012 at a time when the viability of eCommerce was still being questioned by the industry. The company began as a tool for local businesses to create an online presence before pivoting to focus on enabling sales through Facebook.[1] The founders of Soldsie were able to show that Facebook commerce is a viable form of social commerce when it wasn’t just another tab on a retailer's Facebook page for users to click onto.[2] Soldsie raised $1 million for its full seed round. In addition to raising $425,000 from 72 investors through FundersClub, Soldsie also received funding from 500 Startups and e.ventures to close out its seed round.[3]

By 2013, the platform had facilitated transactions for over 100,000 customers and more than 1,000 merchants, reflecting early adoption of comment-based purchasing.[4]

In May 2014, Soldsie had processed over $25 million in transactions, and had raised $4 million for their Series A funding.[5][6][2]

Platform

Their social shopping platform allows businesses to monetize their social media pages through the use of comments,[7] allowing brands to directly sell on Facebook and Instagram. Retailers looking at selling on Facebook or Instagram upload products according to a template that includes price and item description. They can then schedule campaigns, or sales of multiple items, that post at the designated time. Fans register through email and comment 'Sold' to trigger the purchasing process.[8] The process is managed through a backend dashboard that compiles all the comments and then allows retailers to send invoices to buyers.[9] Retailers can also turn on automatic invoices, track customers, and put buyers on a waitlist for out-of-stock items.[10] This process allows businesses to turn their Facebook and Instagram pages into points of sale.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Love, Dylan. "Soldsie Could Solve Facebook's Biggest Challenge" (in en-US). https://www.businessinsider.com/soldsie-facebook-comments-commerce-2012-10. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sarah Perez (2014-05-15). "Soldsie, The Service That Lets You Shop Via Facebook And Instagram Comments, Raises $4 Million". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2014/05/15/soldsie-the-service-that-lets-you-shop-via-facebook-and-instagram-comments-raises-4-million/. Retrieved 2014-06-15. 
  3. ↑ Sarah Perez (2013-03-06). "F-Commerce Startup Soldsie Raises $1 Million For Its Facebook Comments-Based Shopping Platform". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2013/03/06/f-commerce-startup-soldsie-raises-1-million-for-its-facebook-comments-based-shopping-platform. Retrieved 2014-06-15. 
  4. ↑ Perez, Sarah (2013-07-17). "Facebook-Based Shopping Platform Soldsie Goes International, Tops $10 Million In Transactions" (in en-US). https://techcrunch.com/2013/07/17/facebook-based-shopping-platform-soldsie-goes-international/. 
  5. ↑ Kia Kokalitcheva (2014-05-15). "Helping you sell stuff through Instagram & Facebook is worth $4M to these investors | VentureBeat | Deals &#124". VentureBeat. https://venturebeat.com/2014/05/15/helping-you-sell-stuff-through-instagram-facebook-is-worth-4m-to-these-investors/. Retrieved 2014-06-15. 
  6. ↑ Gavin O'Malley. "MediaPost Publications Social Commerce Platform Soldsie Raises $4 Million In Funding, Looks To Expand 05/16/2014". MediaPost. http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/225978/social-commerce-platform-soldsie-raises-4-million.html. Retrieved 2014-06-15. 
  7. ↑ Sarah Perez (2012-09-20). "A New Take On F-Commerce: Soldsie Lets Retailers Sell Through Facebook Comments". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/20/a-new-take-on-f-commerce-soldsie-lets-retailers-sell-through-facebook-comments. Retrieved 2014-06-15. 
  8. ↑ Fiegerman, Seth (20 September 2012). "Soldsie Helps Businesses Turn Their Facebook Pages Into Virtual Storefronts". http://mashable.com/2012/09/20/soldsie-helps-businesses-turn-their-facebook-pages-into-virtual-storefronts/. 
  9. ↑ Dylan Love (2012-10-03). "Soldsie Sells Your Stuff On Facebook". Business Insider. http://www.businessinsider.com/soldsie-facebook-comments-commerce-2012-10#!IiYyP. Retrieved 2014-06-15. 
  10. ↑ Social Media Influence (2012-09-21). "Soldsie allows retailers to make instant sales within Facebook comments". Socialmediainfluence.com. http://socialmediainfluence.com/2012/09/21/social-commerce-spotlight-soldsie-allows-retailers-to-make-instant-sales-within-facebook-comments. Retrieved 2014-07-02. 
  11. ↑ Seth Fiegerman (2012-09-20). "Soldsie Helps Businesses Turn Their Facebook Pages Into Virtual Storefronts". Mashable. http://mashable.com/2012/09/20/soldsie-helps-businesses-turn-their-facebook-pages-into-virtual-storefronts. Retrieved 2014-06-15. 




Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Company:Soldsie&oldid=4396309"