An online marketplace based in Dorset has set out ambitious plans to go global.

OnBuy, founded in 2016, describes itself as the world’s fastest-growing marketplace.

The platform is about to embark on a worldwide scale-up into more than 140 countries by 2023.

That’s ten times more than Amazon.

Each of the sites will be dedicated to the individual countries with customers able to use local currency to buy goods.

As reported on Dorset Biz News, OnBuy plans to roll out 42 of the sites by the end of this year, including the USA, Australia, India, Singapore and Malaysia.

They’re forecast to drive growth by 50x within four years.

It has also revealed that more than half a billion product listings – 525m – are to be launched globally, creating the widest-reaching marketplace on earth.

Combined with robust global partnerships and an efficient infrastructure, OnBuy says the  ‘secret sauce’ will allow rapid scaling into multiple territories on a completely tailored platform.

Cas Paton, OnBuy’s Founder and CEO, said: “OnBuy’s aggressive growth strategy is unlike anything the eCommerce world has ever seen.

“We have around 25m live products in the UK, with 525m products ready to roll out internationally.

“The scope of this scale-up is immense, and we aim to double our product numbers in the first 12 months.

“Our ability to scale in the UK, which is known to be one of the toughest eCommerce markets on the planet, has given us the infrastructure and business model that, combined, go a long way to supporting us to scale internationally.”

The difference with other online marketplaces, such as Amazon, is that OnBuy does not compete with its sellers, hold any stock or sell any of its own products.

Instead it invests all of its resources in growing its international customer base for the sole benefit of its sellers.

The platform gets its income from charging commission to sellers.

OnBuy recently announced 24,000 per cent growth in the last four years with a reported 600 per cent revenue growth year-on-year for the second year running.

Cas said: “OnBuy is the marketplace of the present and of the future.

“Our move into global territories, starting in November and continuing over the next 18 months, is seen as the delivery of our global marketplace solution – a move that will establish OnBuy as a first-of-its-kind global player.

“We’ve worked very hard to create the world’s first global marketplace.

“Having rapidly overtaken our closest competitors, proving conclusively that the appetite exists worldwide for a transparent and ethical marketplace, we will welcome the planet to a better, fairer and more ethical eCommerce ecosystem, and support retailers all over the world in selling through the world’s first true global marketplace.

“We’re not just about big brands and big business: the core value of our business model is to support businesses of all sizes.

“We support small UK businesses to help make them visible to a wider audience.

“This value resonates globally: as the world becomes dominated by large players, we plan to make the world’s retailers more accessible and more visible.

“Ultimately, we plan to offer consumers more choice, convenience and confidence in buying from any retailer, giving the customer peace of mind through OnBuy guarantees and protections.”

OnBuy is based in Vantage Way, Poole, and employs about 50 staff.

The company attributes its success to offering low, competitive seller fees, and promising never to hold stock to compete with its merchants.

In addition, OnBuy says its agile business model and low overheads, driven by minimal premises’ costs, allows the business to adapt, evolve and thrive, in response to evolving opportunities and the needs of both customers and sellers.