Silicon Valley SBDC
Cartisan Exchange
Cartisan Exchange provides a hyper-local, centralized online marketplaces where local retailers, artists, and makers can quickly set up their simple e-commerce store to sell their products in local communities, and local consumers can easily find and purchase products from them.
Cartisan Exchange is a true way for people to buy local online from stores in their communities. This convenient app eases the frustration of retailers, artists, and makers from selling on complicated platforms, such as Shopify, and marketplaces with high-fee commissions, like Etsy, which diminishes their successes in selling online.
THE CHALLENGES
The client came to SV SBDC seeking help in developing a soft launch plan to market their online platform to early adopters in South County, which covers Morgan Hill and Gilroy communities.
THE RESULTS
Working with SV SBDC gave the client the confidence to continue building out his product prototype and formalize it to launch on the Apple store and Google Play. The client has invested over $92K in his product and platform development. He now has two full-time employees dedicated to building the platform and rolling it out to South County local retailers, artists, and makers.
Shop South County, the initial online marketplace, was launched 2 weeks ago; it already has multiple sellers who have registered, and dozens more have committed to getting their stores up and running. In 2 more weeks, Shop South County will start promoting its platform to consumers and entice them to shop with sellers in their marketplace.
Looking ahead, Cartisan Exchange expects that in the coming months, it will launch its online marketplace platform covering other regional communities.
CLIENT’S TESTIMONIAL
“Working with Jenny Huang has been instrumental in preparing for the launch of Cartisan Exchange within the South County. Her guidance helped us create a clear picture of what was needed for a successful launch.”
– Tyler Smith, Co-Founder and CEO, Cartisan Exchange
