21 May 2023
Wholesalers and the marketplace thesis
Two-sided marketplaces fail because one side is starved for the other. We started Floree from the shop side because every shop already has 4 wholesalers and zero leverage. The wholesalers came after.
The shop already has wholesalers
A shop in Al Quoz already has four wholesalers on speed-dial — they'll tell you their names without thinking. So the shop already has supply. What they lack is leverage: the ability to compare prices on Tuesday before they place Wednesday's order.
That insight is why we didn't build a marketplace where wholesalers list and shops bid. We built a marketplace where shops put their existing wholesalers on a single screen, and let them request a quote in two taps.
What that looks like for the wholesaler
For the wholesaler, Floree is — at first — just a faster sales channel. A shop that bought AED 12,000/month from them last quarter can now quote a new arrangement in 20 seconds, accept on the spot, and pay through the platform. Volume goes up. The wholesaler signs in, sees their orders queued, prints a single dispatch sheet, and ships.
Once the wholesaler is on Floree, two more things become possible. They can bid for other shops they don't already supply. And they can publish a price list — daily, weekly — that shops watch like a stock ticker.
Why we're patient about it
We'll launch the marketplace publicly when we have 30+ wholesalers and 100+ shops in it. Until then it lives quietly behind a feature flag, with our pilot tenants only. Marketplace velocity matters more than marketplace size.