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In conversation with... Ankorstore
Above: Ankorstore’s UK head office. Below: Jina Kwon heads up Ankorstore’s UK operation.
Two years ago Ankorstore didn’t exist. Now, the fast-growing B2B online marketplace platform, which achieved unicorn status a few months ago (being valued at over $1 billion), has links with 250,000 independent retailers and 200,000 brands in 33 countries across Europe. Ahead of PG Live, at which Ankorstore is sponsoring the lunchroom and opening night party, PG caught up with Jina Kwon, its UK country manager to find out more about a unicorn that is no mythical figure.
Retail Rewilding?
It is fitting that Ankorstore UK is based in Work Space, a flashy new set up on London’s Euston Road. Just as Work Space’s ‘private office memberships’ vision is to offers flexible working facilities, with like-minded businesses sharing the design-led communal areas, breakout lounges, roof terrace, gym and top end coffee shop, the antidote to a traditional ‘company name above the door’ HQ, so Ankorstore is among those who are shaking up the ways of looking at how independent retailers do business with brands and vice versa. Having started in France, founded by a handful of ecommerce entrepreneurs, with the backing of £300 million+ of investments, Ankorstore has grown like topsy, including in the UK. It is not the only B2B marketplace active in the UK by any means, but as Faire (a major competitor) has expanded here from its strong US base, Ankorstore has expanded from its stronghold in mainland Europe.
With a pedigree in online marketplaces (including five years at Groupon right at its start, as well as working for three other platforms in other sectors) Jina Kwon, immediately saw the potential of Ankorstore and was keen to be part of its expansion in the UK. “I joined Ankorstore in June 2021. There were only three of us here back then, but we have grown very quickly. Between last July and
September alone we employed another 50 people, to ensure we had a strong sales and account management team,” explained Jina. To her mind, the whole independent retailer/wholesaler way of working “has not changed for years”. While Jina fully accepts the value of face to face interaction, be it through meeting at trade shows, showrooms or by visits from reps and agents, she stresses that this means so many other opportunities are being missed. “If you are an independent retailer based in the Outer Hebrides for example it can be difficult to get to those trade shows or for reps to visit you. Likewise, if you are a little company starting out making beautiful stationery it is not easy to grow your business, to expand your retail
Brand reset
Things move fast in the online world, and so at the end of April, less than two years after its launch, Ankorstore unveiled a rebranding, complete with an ambitious tagline of ‘Rewild Retail’ “To reflect our new identity, we felt compelled to find a new way to articulate the heart of our mission. We found two words that epitomise our mission and who we are as a company: Rewild Retail. The concept is simple – to restore the natural order and beauty of an ecosystem that is broken so that everyone in it can thrive again,” stated Nicola D’Audiffret, co-ceo and co-founder of Ankorstore. PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS WORLDWIDE
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