Ecommerce Accelerator vs Aggregator

If you know you need help with growing your profits and controlling your brand online, you'll see different types of companies offering to help. Two common options are an ecommerce accelerators and an ecommerce aggregators. Both promise to help your brand achieve greater success, so how do you know which type of company to partner with?

As an ecommerce accelerator, Pattern helps brands stay in control and maximize profitability worldwide. We're acutely familiar with the confusion brands experience distinguishing aggregators and accelerators. Here's a break down of the differences so you can make an informed decision.

Aggregator vs Accelerator: Purchase vs Partner

Aggregator

Aggregators are typically purchase-focused. They'll buy and scale 3P (third-party) brands on marketplaces. Their strategy is to acquire brands that fit their strategic vision and then grow them through operation. In ecommerce, aggregators tend to be relatively new companies that invest in Amazon-focused brands and then apply a wide range of strategies to grow them. Strategies like technology, economies of scale with other brands, and tapping into historical data on Amazon from their portfolio of brands.

Accelerator

Rather than purchasing brands, ecommerce accelerators partner with brands to apply data-driven technology and expertise to increase revenue growth for that brand across major online commerce channels, including D2C sites, ecommerce marketplaces such as Amazon, Tmall, JD.com, noon, Zalando, and beyond. Accelerators can help their brand partners bridge the gap between one-off metrics and the lifetime value of a customer, which is a much more accurate indicator of the long-term growth and success of a brand.

This collaboration and communication typically enables the brands to become much more strategic about both short-term investments and longer-term product development. Pattern, an ecommerce accelerator, works with brands to accelerate sales by buying the brand’s inventory, using proprietary technology to maintain brand control on marketplaces, and accelerate growth (through traffic and conversion). Pattern uses data insights and expertise to figure out where the gaps are in sales, optimizing the brand across marketplaces and identifying insights for boosting margins.

Ecommerce Accelerators and Aggregators Can Co-exist

Accelerators and aggregators are not direct competitors. Remember, aggregators buy brands, whereas accelerators buy stock in the inventory, so aggregators may hire an accelerator to move product. But, even together, accelerators do the heavy lifting. Ecommerce accelerators often do the hard work of helping brands grow on Amazon and beyond.

They bring the data and operational know-how to identify and capitalize on opportunities and the experience to help overcome common difficulties. As a result, brand aggregators and accelerators are not competitors but rather different approaches to the same goal: sustained growth for brands. And with all the aggregation that has already occurred, acceleration with a partner like Pattern will be the mandate for future proofing your brand.

Which Will Bring Your Brand Success?

Most aggregators are good at sizing up an acquisition but may lack the total experience needed to operate a business on Amazon and other marketplaces. Aggregators need to become accelerators if they are going to continue to survive. It's not enough to acquire brands, you have to grow them. Pattern is an ecommerce accelerator that helps brands succeed on marketplaces like Amazon, TMall, JD.com, Zalando, and more. As a partner who has stock in your inventory, Pattern applies its proprietary technology and data-driven insights to help brands stay in control and get a piece of the $6 trillion global ecommerce market. Are you ready to accelerate? Contact us today.