OnBuy – Top 25 Fastest Growth Company in Europe As the Excitement Builds for 2023

2023 might be the biggest year yet for British online marketplace OnBuy, and the first full quarter of the year is not even finished yet as the company bags another major accolade.

Last week, the Financial Times (FT) released its annual list of Europe’s fastest-growing companies (FT1000), ranking OnBuy 25th with an absolute growth rate of 3,402.3% since 2018. Among UK-based businesses, the company ranked 10th on the prestigious list of growth companies in Europe.

“Inclusion on the FT 1000 as Europe’s fastest-growing ecommerce business is the culmination of a lot of hard work,” said Cas Paton, founder and CEO of OnBuy.

This news follows other milestones such as being named one of the Top 50 Fastest Growing Tech Companies in the UK by Deloitte and Cas Paton being awarded Entrepreneur of the Year for 2021 by Business Leader in the South West.

“I’m incredibly proud of the whole OnBuy team and the brilliant work that we have done as a group to get into this position. I attribute the business’ strong growth to our collective commitment to providing a fairer ecosystem for both sellers and buyers,” added Paton.

All these achievements are a testament to the desire to succeed that wasn’t simply fortuitous timing due to the Covid-19 boost in ecommerce activity, but the vision and execution of a business strategy to grow a transparent marketplace for both sellers and buyers.

Unlike many of its larger peers, OnBuy doesn’t compete directly or indirectly with its sellers. The company even invested in seasonal promotional activities, such as reducing the price during a Black Friday Sale without begging its sellers to reduce their prices.

Showing commitment to long-term success, instead, OnBuy paid for the discounts by reducing prices to buyers, while sellers still netted the same as if they would have sold at their original listed price.

Today, the company has over six million buyers and the marketplace features more than 35 million products.

OnBuy Moving Ahead in 2023

As we enter the third month of 2023, OnBuy has already started the first phase of platform improvements.

This phase finds the company transitioning to its own payments experience to allow for more payment options buyers demand today. Paton said this is an “important and hugely beneficial improvement to the OnBuy experience to buyers.”

It may also lay one of the building blocks for international expansion by enabling regional payments options that are popular with local buyers.

Until now, OnBuy has relied on a partnership with PayPal to accept payments. But it seems, similar to other marketplaces like eBay and Etsy, the company found it was limiting to its growth potential.

The change of its payment processing platform has already opened up new categories for OnBuy, enabling it to onboard sellers in the vape and e-cigarette categories. CBD could be next and is currently under review by the categories team commented Lee Brown, Sr. Business Development Manager at OnBuy on LinkedIn.

But while the transition of the payments platform is already a big change, OnBuy is not stopping there.

“When we developed our 2023 roadmap, we made the choice to take on some of our toughest challenges yet, but it’s all part of a bigger, incredibly exciting future for OnBuy, our sellers and our customers,” explained Paton on LinkedIn recently.

He added,”We’ll soon be revealing another major change to the business which will deliver a huge reason for shoppers to choose OnBuy as their go-to marketplace. I can’t say much more just yet, but I promise it’s worth the wait.”

Furthermore, Paton said in a Q&A on OnBuy.com, the team has been working on this platform change for a while now, and they are “ready to reveal a new, incredibly exciting version of OnBuy to the world.”

We’ve noticed before that the company’s partners page has revealed solutions suggesting international expansion is near.

And while that is ultimately one of the goals for OnBuy to grow the business globally, in the short term, it appears the company is focused on adding innovations to the platform to enhance the experience for both buyers and sellers.

“The right path might not be easy. But it’s worth it,” Paton concluded on LinkedIn. The future looks bright for OnBuy as it continues its path to building the most transparent online marketplace globally.

If you liked this article and would like to engage with other small business entrepreneurs selling on marketplaces, join our . You can also find us on , , , and or sign up for our newsletter below.