Superstat

Released 03/07/2009

Niche websites let members take web by storm

Dealer group Superstat is gearing up to launch a new solution for dealers looking to make their mark online.

The concept - TheSupermarketOnline.com - will be a national brand consisting of 10 niche websites, including those for shredders, safes, printer ink, and paper, which will be supported by a network of regional dealers who will fulfil the deliveries in their local area.

Unique in the market, Superstat feels it takes the buying group philosophy of strength in numbers and applies it to the world of online ordering for office products. A pooled advertising budget of around £1.2m per year alongside a specialist SEO team will ensure these sites are Google-friendly and in competition with the larger players on the web market.

Two factors led Superstat to identify this opportunity in the market - firstly they were aware of the expense involved for each of their dealers to follow current business advice and optimise themselves for an online market. Secondly, if each of their dealers followed the same advice, there would be 200 companies all effectively competing against each other to get to the top of Google, which Superstat felt was not very good business advice.

Superstat also looked at the strategy of the big online players - cornering a large percentage of the online market making it difficult for smaller dealers to compete. However on closer inspection, the dealer group felt the weaknesses large players fall victim to - such as limitations of third party delivery and poor customer service - are areas their dealers could provide exceptionally well.

As a result, Superstat hopes to have created a route for their members to bring their business online that until might have been a "very expensive pipe dream" for individual dealers.

As it stands there are 52 dealers going through the registration process for SupermarketOnline, which leaves a remaining 28 potential territories available to complete for full national coverage by member dealers.

The sites will start trading from 1 October 2009 resulting in what Superstat forecasts to be an annual turnover of £50m by 2012.

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