Marketplace Platforms: Trading Places

Article Extract

A similar approach is adopted by Packform which serves as an online marketplace for everything from primary and secondary plastics films - such as shrink film, stretch film and printed overwrap film - to primary rigid plastics like clamshells, bottles and boxes.

Founded two years ago, Packform is currently valued at $150 million, and its owners are in the process of deciding whether it will be publicly listed in Australia, where the team is based - or in the US, its main market.

For co-owner Preston Geeting, the two major market trends that have benefitted his platform have been the post-Covid increase in remote working, and inflation in the supply chain.

"With many people now working remotely, they have the ability to access our platform easily from their home office, he explains. "Additionally, packaging buyers are in an environment of rapid inflation where the demand for products is outpacing available available supply."

The key advantages of marketplace platforms over traditional e-commerce sites, according to Geeting, are flexibility, transparency and cost.

Packform, he says, offers a simplified process for customising products (with the help of dealer partners), making the opportunities limitless.

"Our workflows are built so simply that users can create new products for anything they like in minutes," he adds.

Geeting describes Packform's overheads as being a fraction of the industry norm, making it extremely competitive when compared with traditional e-commerce and bricks and mortar businesses.

"Our technology allows buyers not only to get the products they need but also buy them at best possible market price," he explains.

Original Source: Marketplace Platforms: Trading Places, Noli Dinkovski, Plastics in Packaging, January 2022.