From SEEK to Redbubble: Scaling Two & Three-Sided Marketplaces
Current Chief Executive Officer at Redbubble
inpractise.com/articles/from-seek-to-redbubble-scaling-two-and-three-sided-marketplaces
Redbubble
Why is this company interesting?
Redbubble is an Australian-listed three-sided marketplace connecting individual artists, fulfilment partners, and customers. Artists upload unique designs and Redbubble partners with fulfillers to produce 'print-on-demand' (POD) products and ship to consumers.
Redbubble's competitive advantage lies in the 60m long tail of unique designs that drive organic traffic via SEO to customers looking for customised products. The flywheel starts with artists uploading designs, this unique content driving organic traffic which drives sales through the fulfilment network. As the fulfilment network scales, delivery time and cost declines which drives sales and the flywheel again.
Redbubble reminds us of Etsy in 2016; a marketplace with a unique and sticky supply side and a new CEO to focus the company on driving sales for sellers. RBL's 5-year revenue CAGR is +35% with gross margins over 40% and an estimated ~15% long term EBIT margins.
From SEEK to Redbubble: Scaling Two & Three-Sided Marketplaces(September 8, 2021)
Michael Ilczynski
Current Chief Executive Officer at Redbubble
Michael is the Current CEO of Redbubble, the three-sided consumer marketplace listed in Australia. Prior to joining Redbubble, Michael spent 13 years at SEEK, a two-sided job marketplace, leading teams across strategy, product & technology and commercial operations, culminating as CEO Asia Pacific & Americas. Michael led over 3,000 employees across 11 countries covering the SEEK portfolio companies. Prior to SEEK, he worked at McKinsey & Company and previously served in the Australian Army Ready Reserve.
In Practise Notes
- Redbubble's competitive advantage lies in the long-tail of unique content uploaded by artists. This cannot be replicated easily and drives an SEO / SEM advantage.
- Redbubble seems to be in a similar place as Etsy a few years ago when Silverman took charge: a higher focus on 'driving sales to serve artists' rather than just 'serving artists'.
- Redbubble and TeePublic have complimentary customer bases
- As Redbubble scales the customer base and the fulfilment network, it becomes more attractive to acquire different customer groups that Redbubble and TeePublic don't serve such as B2B customers. There are potential M&A opportunities within the POD industry.
- This quote highlights why classified marketplaces are so unique: "It’s like all those classifieds sites; it’s not just winner takes most; it is the winner gets better and accelerates away"
- There is a virtuous feedback look at RBL; it just takes longer and more effort to kickstart than a classifieds site
- RBL is evolving from optimising first-order AoV and conversion to repeat buying and LTV
- Although RBL hasn't posted any cohort data yet, it's unclear why RBL cohort performance would be materially different to Etsy in 2017/18 for eg. This leaves huge upside for RBL if they can execute and create more brand awareness like Etsy.
- Mike's thoughts when analysing Etsy and how it could relate to Redbubble's future growth. Scale matters
- As the fulfillment network grows, the last mile is cheaper which should drive conversion
- Redbubble is fundamentally a different business to Etsy or Amazon Handmade. Etsy 'takes' a rate from the artist; the artist 'gives' a rate to Redbubble. It's a different business with a slightly similar user journey to find customised or handmade goods
- How Mike thinks about competition to RBL; both for consumer and artist attention
Interview Transcript
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