This Online Store and Distributor Wants to Help N.B. Companies Grow
FREDERICTON – Debbie Jones and Tavis Marr launched ShopLocalNB, an online store and distributor of local products, in February with a mission. They want to make it easier for New Brunswick products to get to stores and for consumers to buy them.
“There have been situations where we’ve been seeing things on shelves and we know there’s a local product that’s comparable – same size, same bottle, same product – but [the N.B. one] is more expensive,” Jones said.
Most of the time, she says, the higher price is due to shipping that’s more expensive for products sold in smaller quantities.
ShopLocalNB stores products from vendors at their warehouse and ships them to retailers and wholesalers. This allows the vendors to offer their products at a lower price to consumers.
“Our point is to grow their business as much as possible. That’s our mandate, that’s our mission – to grow New Brunswick businesses that otherwise may not be able to,” Jones said.
There’s a fee for vendors who do want to sell their products on ShopLocalNB’s platform, but the first month is free.
“Our goal is to have as many vendors on there as possible. We’re doing it so everybody is able to try it out,” Jones said. “[The first month] we get the product on, we get the information, and then we’re able to go and market it to our wholesale and retail clients through different marketing efforts.”
Jones had been doing marketing for Marr, the co-owner of Fredericton honey producer Marr’s Sweet Syrup who pitched his business on TV show Dragon’s Den in April last year. Through their work trying to sell Marr’s products, they’ve created relationships with stores around the province.
Retailers and wholesalers have told them it’s daunting to have to deal with many vendors for different products when they buy local. They’ve also heard many consumers say they wish they could buy more local products, but they don’t know how.
“We saw the need for them to go and say, ‘oh, if we can just find them in one place, then it would be so much easier to buy local,’ ” Jones said.
ShopLocalNB’s website allows vendors to sell their products not only with lower shipping costs but also for consumers to buy them directly through the platform.
Retailers and wholesalers can also buy products in either smaller or larger amounts. Currently, there are 71 products listed on the website. Most of them are non-perishable food and beauty products, and jewelry.
“I think it just kind of opens up the market a bit more, [for retailers and wholesalers] to be able to test products by buying them in a smaller amount,” Jones said.
The company currently has relationships with 150 retailers in New Brunswick, but it plans to grow its reach beyond the national borders.
“It’s online, it can go throughout Canada and the U.S. and globally,” she said.
With other initiatives pushing the “Buy Local” message, Jones says the momentum of the movement is “wonderful” and the organizations are doing great. But she said consumers are the ones who often don’t know how to purchase more products made in the province.
“Our message is, this is how you can support your local entrepreneur or businesses, and also support the economy,” she said.
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