Auckland-based e-commerce retailer Container Door has raised $784,194 through 564 pledges in its equity crowdfunding campaign on PledgeMe which was launched on October 21.
The bulk goods online retailer is seeking to raise $2 million to repay its loans and grow the product listings on its website and its customer base, scale its technology and grow its presence in Australia.
The campaign will continue until November 18, or when the maximum goal of $2 million is reached from the public.
The company is offering a total of 602,410 shares at $3.32 per share with a minimum investment of $498 for 150 shares.
“Expanding our range on our site is really important, that’s our goal, to put up 300 to 500 more items on the site because we have a lot of customers who are waiting for items that we haven’t put up yet,” said Container Door founder Ben Nathan.
The platform offers products that you might find at Bunnings, Anaconda or high-street furniture stores, such as Matt Blatt, but at factory direct prices. It differentiates itself by focusing almost exclusively on products that are large and difficult to ship.
Nathan said Container Door isn’t looking to compete with big online businesses like Amazon, but rather work with them. In a Facebook Live video posted on the website, he said the e-commerce company could provide a way for Amazon to ship its bigger products to New Zealand.
“What we do is, we ship bigger and bulky things and Amazon doesn’t really like having more than two people to lift things and carry them into your house,” Nathan said.
“They mostly ship products that are small. And it’s very hard to ship bulky items to New Zealand.”
Nathan said the cost of shipping for a couch or a bike would be expensive.
“We’re still seeing what works and what doesn’t work,” he said.
Faster shipping, great experience
According to Nathan, offering faster shipping is part of Container Door’s plans for the near future.
He said with over 100,000 customers listed on the database, it is their intention to deliver a great experience to them.
“In the past year we have revamped our website and improved our logistics to create an even better customer experience, significantly expanded our product range and opened an Auckland showroom,” he said.
Nathan said that although the business has seen 43 per cent growth in revenue, it has only just scratched the surface and the capital raise will help it make further improvements.
Container Door last year launched an e-commerce platform in Australia linking consumers directly to foreign factories on a mass market scale.
