VENDe – Find it. Love it. Stock it.

VENDe is the e-marketplace for wholesalers and retailers in the gift and homewares industry to trade and network online.

It has been designed for time poor retailers to find, purchase and have new stock delivered directly to their door.

Buyers benefit from an easy to navigate, convenient one-stop shop, with 24/7 access to wholesale products – from fashion to kitchenware, homewares to outdoor living, children’s toys to stationery and everything in between.

VENDe is a unique e-marketplace for wholesalers and retailers, making business-to-business interaction over the websimple, accessible and secure.

Wholesalers set up a simple site from which retailers can browse products, place orders and purchase on account. Developed and designed by the Australian Gift and Homewares Association (AGHA), VENDe will revolutionise the way you do business, making order management and account management simple.

VENDe takes your business online, with no knowledge of web development required. Wholesalers can manage and customise their own site, which will be optimised for Google web searches. Online transactions are protected by CBA DataVault integration, so wholesalers have peace of mind when trading online. Retailers can browse products at wholesale prices through one portal, and place orders online with trusted wholesalers.

So whether you are a wholesaler or retailer visit VENDe today to see how you can take your business online with ease.

Few would question the importance of having a strong online presence in today’s marketplace, but positioning your business online can be difficult when there’s an absolute plethora of space to get lost in.

That’s where VENDe comes in. Launched in November last year, VENDe (pronounced “Vend”) is designed to keep online trading within Australian shores and provide a place for wholesalers to pitch their wares at potential retailers, with a specific focus on encouraging simple two-way trade.

With a tagline of ‘Find it. Love it. Stock it.’, the VENDe site is more inviting, easier to navigate and offers a wider range of products, from fashion to kitchenware, homewares to outdoor living, children’s toys to stationery and everything in between.

Buyers benefit from the convenience of one-stop, 24/7 access to wholesalers, comprehensive search functions and a secure shopping cart and payment facility. Unlike its predecessor SupplierHaven, VENDe also allows wholesalers with an existing online store to list and upload products with links through to their own website.

In fact, VENDe is available to all in the gift and homewares industry, with AGHA member wholesalers receiving a discounted price for placement. Retailers are also able to use the site regardless of whether they’re a member or not and it’s free to sign up.

Those who have already signed up will see the VENDe marketing out in force at this month’s Home & Giving Fair from 25-28 February at Sydney Showground. There will be posters for exhibitors who wish to display them at their stand, plus VENDe pens and VENDe t-shirts.

If you’re not on VENDe yet, as a wholesaler or retailer, now is the time to get involved. It’s only going to get bigger from here.

Missed the February Fair? Perhaps it’s time to take a look at the AGHA’s newest initiative, VENDe.

Moving online is written under ‘number one priorities for 2012’ for businesses in the gifts and homewares sector, if it hasn’t been done already. But positioning your business online can be difficult when there is an absolute plethora of space to get lost in.

That’s where VENDe comes in. Just like Supplierhaven before it, VENDe is a place for wholesalers to pitch their wares at potential retailers, with a specific focus on encouraging that simple two-way trade. This is such an important area, especially when there can be such a long lag between trade fairs.

“Supplierhaven was set up some 18 months ago,” says Chris Tredwell, the Account Manager- Online Services of AGHA, and one of the original creators of VENDe.  “It was picking up pace and growing in its reputation but we realised that there were certain limitations and frustrations on the part of some people wanting to get involved. They liked the concept, but it wasn’t flexible enough. As there were quite a few changes to make we decided we’d rebrand it and try to make it more inclusive for the whole industry.”

Supplierhaven as a concept was often well received however. Cassandra Lacey from Yackandandah Newsagency in Victoria said, “I own a small newsagency in a little country town. We sell gifts and toys and this side of our business is growing. Unfortunately we don’t get visited by reps so trying to find new suppliers is difficult.
I came across Supplierhaven and I was really pleased to see that you can hook me up with so many other companies that I wouldn’t otherwise have found myself. This is a fantastic tool for my business and I look forward to dealing with many new suppliers.”

Tredwell says that VENDe is the perfect place for retailers and wholesalers to catch up during the year. “The biggest challenge is getting the word out to people who don’t visit the fairs. We want to promote your product on VENDe to retailers who might not normally find you.”

Changes made to the new online system aren’t just limited to the name. VENDe is available to all, with AGHA member wholesalers receiving a discounted price for placement, while non-members pay a premium. It’s good news for retailers too. “All retailers are able to use the site regardless if they’re a member or not, it’s free to sign up for.”

With Tredwell describing the site as an “online trade fair”, it’s an important space for members to get involved in. “A lot of online trade is going offshore, and not because there aren’t the products or the companies that provide those products on home soil. It’s just people can’t find them. If there’s a space where you know these are all Australian businesses that have all been vouched for by the association and they’re all in one location, it speeds up their search and gives confidence to the people that it deals with.”

So if you’re not on VENDe yet, as a wholesaler or retailer, now is the time to get involved. It’s only going to get bigger from here.

AGHA LAUNCHES NEW E-MARKETPLACE TO KEEP ONLINE TRADING WITHIN AUSTRALIAN SHORES

The Australian Gift & Homewares Association (AGHA) has today launched VENDe, a new and improved e-marketplace to facilitate online trading and networking between wholesalers and retailers in the gift and homewares industry.

Replacing AGHA’s existing online trade portal SupplierHaven, VENDe (pronounced “Vend”) is designed to keep online trading within Australian shores and make it easier than ever for time poor retailers to find, purchase and have new stock delivered.

With a tagline of ‘Find it. Love it. Stock it.’, the VENDe site has been designed to be more inviting, easier to navigate and offer a wider range of products than its predecessor, from fashion to kitchenware, homewares to outdoor living, children’s toys to stationery and everything in between.

Buyers benefit from the convenience of one-stop, 24/7 access to wholesalers, comprehensive search functions and a secure shopping cart and payment facility.

Unlike SupplierHaven, the B2B e-marketplace also allows wholesalers with an existing online store to list and upload products to VENDe with links through to their own website.

AGHA’s Product Coordinator Online, Chris Tredwell said the design and launch of VENDe was six months in the making and the result of a comprehensive survey of SupplierHaven users and non-users.

“People really liked the concept of SupplierHaven but they found aspects of the site to be too restrictive and difficult to navigate, so with VENDe we’ve aimed to create an altogether more flexible and inclusive e-marketplace model,” said Mr Tredwell.

SupplierHaven has grown steadily since its launch in November 2010 and currently boasts more than 100 live sites and over 5000 regular retail buyers.

Mr Tredwell said the launch of VENDe was designed to offer a smooth and simple transition to SupplierHaven users, providing all the functionality they enjoyed previously along with a host of improvements.

Other new features will be added to VENDe over time with the aim of making the site a one-stop resource for buyers and sellers to network and grow their businesses.

“We want to make the VENDe experience about more than just simple and secure online trading. We want people to be visiting the site on a daily basis, not just to buy and sell stock, but to chat with others in the gift and homewares industry and find inspiration, ideas and advice,” said Mr Tredwell.

The launch of VENDe follows the roll out of AGHA’s new name and brand identity in September and reflects the association’s commitment to investing in services to help grow the gift and homewares industry.

“The explosion of online shopping has increased the buying options for Australian consumers and created challenges for our wholesalers and retailers. We are committed to helping business owners navigate this new world and we hope the launch of VENDe will encourage them to embrace the opportunities that online affords,” said David Leek, CEO, AGHA.

Gift and Homewares Australia (GHA) today launched a new brand identity, Australian Gift & Homewares Association & More. designed to reflect its future strategic approach within the retail sector as a peak industry association that offers ‘more’ to its members.

Complementing the brand redesign, the organisation has decided its vision for the future is also best served by reverting to its original name of Australian Gift and Homewares Association (AGHA).

“We are Australian, and we are an association,” said David Leek, CEO, AGHA.

“So we think it’s in our members’ best interests to promote ourselves as such, and avoid any confusion about our purpose – which is to serve our members across all states and territories.”

A key objective for AGHA will be ramping up its activities in the areas of advocacy and support, not just in the gift and homewares sector, but in the retail industry as a whole.

“We want to ensure that in a constantly changing retail environment, our members’ voices are heard at a federal, state and local level. To champion causes on their behalf, we need a strong and viable brand presence,” said Mr Leek.

The new brand positioning, developed by Matter Design, will aid transition into this new strategic approach, and clearly communicate AGHA’s role as the industry voice for gift and homewares’ retailers and suppliers.

“This is a sector that has been hard hit by various challenges, and it’s a sector that contributes enormously to the Australian economy. With an estimated value of $20 billion, and 150,000 store outlets, the sector provides employment for countless Australians – and we want to keep it that way,” he said.