AN innovative and rapidly expanding Scottish technology start-up which creates a solution to growth and management of multi-channel e-commerce business is predicting a 1000% increase in user numbers by the end of the year.
A beneficiary of dramatically increased internet retail activity over the course of the UK coronavirus lockdown, Glasgow-based OnePatch is aiming for 500 users by the beginning of 2021, a figure which will embed long-term sustainability.
It also plans to increase its sales force by a factor of five in the short term as well as boosting the merchandising capabilities of its operation in India, where it has a strong and established development team. It currently has eight staff in its Scottish HQ.
OnePatch, which soft-launched in 2019 and went into full operation in February this year, believes it is the only offering of its kind in Scotland and one of only a handful of similar companies in the UK, the US and Australia.
Chief Financial Officer Brendan Dunne, who owns the company along with his brother, Richard, the CEO, said: “The name OnePatch derives from a computer patch panel which collects everything into the one location.
“That essentially is what our offering does, connecting online retailers’ sales channels, product listings, accounts package, inventory management and shipping couriers into one easy-to-use system.”
OnePatch, which has just doubled its HQ capacity by moving into new premises in the south side of Glasgow, is designed to cover the online retail spectrum, from home-based sole traders to major concerns with large, varied inventory and complex stock level management and shipping issues.
Dublin-born Dunne said: “Packages range from £20 to £1500, depending on the numbers of orders and integrations with favoured online marketplaces, such as Abebooks, Amazon, Ebay and Etsy. A basic package would cover 25 orders and two integrations, while a top end package would encompass 30,000 + orders a month plus nine or 10 + integrations.”
OnePatch’s Indian business arose from a long-term collaboration with Calcutta-based development expert Miguel Khan, who has now established a base in the sub-continent which employs nine developers and two merchandising staff.
Dunne said: “While our focus at the moment is on growth within the UK, there is huge potential in India, which has a population approaching 1.4 billion, and in Indonesia, with 273 million people.
“Online commerce is really taking off in these regions and we plan to increase the Calcutta sales team to at least 10 in the short term to make sure we are well placed to take advantages of the opportunities which are arising.”
OnePatch is also embracing bricks and mortar retailers, who have been struggling in the face of the relentless advance of online activity, with an electronic point of sale (epos) system which will also integrate all their activities.
He said: “At present we have a unique advantage, since our technology is in the region of three years ahead of our immediate competitors and we offer free onboarding as well as customisation within user software.
“Our ultimate goal would be a public listing and the way growth and progress is accelerating at the moment, we are very well embarked on that path.”
