Welcome to SSAW.io
Our project aims to help independent luxury fashion designers and brands to market and sell their collections business-to-business (B2B) globally: and through this we give retailers wider access to new and innovative products, extremely conveniently and cost-effectively.
The New B2B digital sales channel
The online B2B wholesale sales channel was so undeveloped before the pandemic, and has come to such prominence since Covid-19, that it really is a new sales channel.
Wholesale buyers never wanted to work digitally and resisted it for many years, but in summer 2020 trade shows and showrooms were cancelled, buyer’s could not travel to see brands and sales reps could not physically meet buyers.
Since Covid-19 wholesale buyers have no choice, they have learnt how to work digitally, and buyers have learnt fast!
A double edged sword: problem/opportunity
What started off as a problem has now been recognised and exploited by many brands as an opportunity.
Before the pandemic many buyers were resistant to being contacted directly through digital channels, and it was very expensive to develop new points of sale. Whereas now, flexible and forward thinking brands have an extremely powerful and cost-effective channel to develop new markets globally.
The limitations of online marketplaces for B2B wholesale sales
SSAW.io’s team are pioneers in B2B wholesale commerce. Before developing SSAW.io our team created and consulted on various aspects of e-marketplaces and through this experience we realised that online marketplaces for wholesale B2B sales only ever generate small orders. There are two reasons for this.
Build strong relationships with buyers
A buyer may make a single purchase on an e-marketplace, or place a small wholesale order. However, to attract larger orders it is necessary to build up a relationship with a buyer and to get their trust. The automation implicit in online marketplaces actually acts as a barrier and works against this happening.
average internet use 7 hours a day per person
more than 5 billion internet users worldwide
These staggering statistics show that the chances of a brand attracting a new buyer through random web browsing is 5 billion:1 which is almost no chance at all. Whereas, the importance of developing digital channels is increasing by almost 1 million new internet users every day.
900,000 new internet users per day
“Elevator” Pitch
When the Covid-19 pandemic happened, traditional ways of buyers and brands meeting in person became impossible: trade shows were cancelled, agents could not meet buyers; and buyers could not attend showrooms. This has resulted in a paradigm shift in the way that B2B wholesales sales are conducted and due to factors including both convenience and cost-effectiveness, there is little sigh that buyers or sellers will return to the off-line ways of working.
At this stage the problem becomes how does a brand build a target list of stores, contact the buyers and build relationships with new buyers and sell to them at scale.
This is the problem that we solve!
Spring / Summer
Autumn / Winter
SSAW is an iconic acronym for Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter, describing the twice yearly buying cycle where retailers place orders between 6 to 18 months before they take delivery.
This is the antithesis of fast-fashion, enabling brands to buy raw materials and production services cost-effectively and produce to sensible timescales with realistic prices and profit margins.
How we engage with brands
SSAW.io wants to attract and represent the best brands. We believe that we have a unique proposition, a level of clarity on how to sell to leading online and offline stores that is second to none, literally thousands of buyer contacts in many leading retailers worldwide and a robust delivery framework.
There is a lot of background information on this website. However, we believe that sales is about building relationships. If you run a forward thinking, high quality, sustainable and innovative brand, then the next step is to book an online meeting with us. During this initial discovery session, we will try to understand the unique characteristics of your brand and explain how we work, answering any questions and mutually deciding if we are a good fit. If, and only if both parties want to proceed, we will then make a detailed proposal.
A sense of urgency is often useful when it comes to making sales and appointments can be made 24 hours a day, so please use the button below to see our availability and to schedule a Partner Discovery Meeting at a mutually convenient time.
We are looking forward to meeting you, learning more about your brand and explaining how we work, the sooner the better!
SSAW.io specialise in the fashion industry, working with a large community of brands, qualified business buyers, agents and distributors.
Our proposition and services includes: