Eclector

Eclector develops tools that enable its clients to build shared-profit, online marketplaces for books.

Eclector provides its clients, free, with the tools for them to build shared-profit, online market places—initially with books—for their communities. The business model is scalable to global proportions — it will work wherever drop-shipping suppliers operate. Initially it provides free, customisable, online bookshops for its charity, business, voluntary group, blogger, school and university clients, sourcing the platform's several million books from the largest UK wholesalers and publishers. Profits on all sales are shared fifty/fifty with clients. Eclector 3.0, whose most important component is a Build-Your-Own-Shop facility, was launched in early July 2010. This makes it quick, intuitive and easy for anyone to build their own shop, thus opening up the huge market for smaller organisations, bloggers and social networkers. Eclector 3.0 has also added millions of second-hand books to the catalogue, while enabling shop owners to sell and fulfill their own titles. As of July 15th, sixty clients have signed up, including small and large charities, the Ramblers, Future Publishing, Vetstream (an international resource for vets), several SMEs including sites for toy collectors, model plane enthusiasts and horse owners, a couple of schools, and the Institutes of Mechanical Engineering and Knowledge Transfer. Initial client testing started to produce revenues in November 2009. The Company owns the IP in the platform it continues to develop. The business is cash-positive and virtual: its orders are purchased after customers have paid for them and after they have been drop shipped by the Company's suppliers. Eclector exploits the strength of niche affiliate marketing methods within the broader book market. The Internet book market is predicted to be worth £663m in 2010; £1.19 billion in 2014 (Verdict Research). Of the 28.5m people in the UK who bought an average of 12 books, 4.7m did so online. Addressable UK markets of potential clients in six different sectors have been identified, which at conservative estimates are worth £179m per annum to the business. The initial route to market uses a compelling sales proposition that ensures early penetration of the Company's niche marketplaces. 1) Clients are supplied, free of charge, with an e-commerce bookshop, customised for their audience and filled with three million books. 2) Clients are then assisted to market this service to their supporters. 3) Clients are given 50% of the profits earned on every book sold through their shop (that's £2 on an average £10 book) — not limited by cookies and as much as five times more than Amazon affiliates earn. The founder, William Pryor, has built a management team that have extensive experience of the book trade, building and managing large scale web platforms, marketing and managing rapid growth. They recognise that as the business grows, they will need to augment their skills and experience with some key additions to the team, primarily in e-marketing and larger scale internet platforms.