Stitching the gap

An Australian first, which aims to revolutionise the wholesale process and cut costs for designers, has arrived.

My Trade Lounge, which claims to be Australia's first online virtual showroom, aims to simplify and digitise the wholesale process to offer buyers an easier way to pre-order wholesale products online.

In the process, the invention also makes it more cost efficient for designers to showcase their collections and connect with potential wholesale buyers nationally.

Each brand which showcases via My Trade Lounge is given their own personal showroom with high resolution images of their current collection. From here, designers can invite potential buyers to view their virtual showroom.

Buyers can connect instantly with brands, place pre-orders and manage their network of business relationships.

For buyers, My Trade Lounge also allows for pre-order placement via a shopping cart like process where buyers can place one pre-order for multiple brands simultaneously. Pre-orders can be placed, viewed and accepted within minutes on the one platform at anytime from anywhere.

Developed by Mia and Camille Keating, the idea spurred after working in international product distribution found them wasting a lot of valuable time and money sourcing potential buyers.

"Currently there are only a few options for designers to access buyers either via email, phone, trade shows or visiting each individual retailer, all of which can be expensive or time consuming,” Camille Keating said.

“We discovered that most designers don’t have the time or finances to grow their labels stockist base as much as they wanted to due to geographical restraints. We also discovered that retailers are spending a lot of valuable time sorting through and filling out excel spreadsheets, lookbooks and line sheets only to have to fax, email or call through their orders” Mia Keating said.

“It seems that the wholesale market was left behind in the digital revolution. We have just updated it and made it more cost and time efficient for both brands and buyers” Camille Keating said.

“We are not only giving retailers an easier pre-order process, we are also allowing them to discover new brands and products to offer their customers” Mia Keating said.