An Australian marketplace is combating Amazon's arrival by signing 50 fashion retailers and flogging half-price trips to Hawaii

The founder of Australian online retail platform MyDeal.com.au reckons his company has struck upon a formula to resist the imminent threat of Amazon.

“Now we have reached critical mass. We have about 1000 retailers using our marketplace to sell their products, to over 2 million customers visiting our website,” MyDeal founder Sean Senvirtne told Business Insider.

With that sort of audience, Senvirtne said his company has taken a different approach in preparing for Amazon compared to other local ecommerce sites like Kogan.com, by signing up partners to diversify the product catalogue — rather than introduce its own products.

“A marketplace is very hard to get off the ground but once you reach a certain degree, it builds on its own. The whole ecosystem becomes very, very strong.”

The latest deal sees MyDeal offering, from Monday, overseas holidays discounted at up to 50% through a partnership with Ignite Travel Group.

“We have done a lot of due diligence about how we can create the best value for our customers,” said Senvirtne.

Ignite Travel Group, which is 49% owned by Flight Centre, joins other MyDeal partners like ShaverShop and Kitchen Warehouse – a supply model that’s seen the marketplace double the number of new items added from July to August.

In the last month alone, the platform claims it has signed up 50 fashion retailers. Read more

Tony Yoo - Business Insider Australia - 3 Nov 2017