Online marketplace PalletTrader reported Wednesday that it has reached 1 million transactions since its launch about eight months ago. The milestone comes as it rolls out an expanded service, which handles the e-commerce management for companies that would rather outsource, announced at FreightWaves’ Future of Supply Chain event in Cleveland.
The standard PalletTrader service, which premiered in October 2022, offered a do-it-yourself way of sourcing, buying and selling pallets. The new tier, PalletTrader+, is a more expansive platform for larger companies that are interested in having PalletTrader completely handle online operations, including the management and execution of pallet procurement.
PalletTrader was born with the idea that every player in the pallet world from small mom-and-pop shops to large enterprises would be able to use it. For those larger companies with more complex supply chains and numerous distribution and manufacturing sites, it’s more conducive to have an outsourced presence to keep consistent pallet supply, said Bettaway Supply Chain Services President John Vaccaro.
He is the one who came up with the idea for PalletTrader, but it operates as a separate entity from Bettaway, which provided the funding and built and operates the platform.
Vaccaro explained that the new level of service is akin to a third-party logistics provider sourcing and managing freight needs, but specifically for pallets.
“This offering is good for any company that operates or is responsible for pallets at multiple locations and is especially ideal for those businesses that operate in both a company-owned and outsourced warehouse co-pack network,” he said.
PalletTrader+ also offers a credit option, which was a common request from users. The bottom tier allows users to post, bid, negotiate or settle a sale but with payment needed immediately in a single transaction. The new, expanded tier offers a line of credit for corporate users. In a designated period of time, customers will receive a full invoice including all transactions within that time.
So why a marketplace just for pallets and pallets only?
Vaccaro told FreightWaves the idea came from a critical problem in the pallet world, like how many important technology inventions are born. While many aspects of the supply chain are highly digital, the pallet industry. Companies in logistics were looking for a way to buy and sell pallets online, but no such way existed.
When the idea came, Vaccaro had a choice between a free marketplace or a brokerage board and ultimately decided that “the free market prevails.”
But again, why only pallets? The pallet industry is currently a $7 billion market in the United States, according to PalletTrader, making up just 20% of the world’s pallet business. Research and Markets estimates that the global pallet industry could reach $128 billion by 2028.
Vaccaro said PalletTrader’s sights are set on the global market next. An application programming interface also is likely in the near future.
He noted that while he knew there was a need for the marketplace, the immediate interest in the past eight months has “exceeded expectations.”
The company strategy during PalletTrader’s launch and industry introduction has been to harness feedback from the trade show circuit to improve the platform as it grows. Vaccaro believes that PalletTrader is uniquely positioned to garner greater trust in the community rather than a technology company coming in with no insider information. Bettaway has been in business in the logistics industry since 1960 and launched a pallet service as a separate entity in 1995.
“We were part of the pallet industry for years with Bettaway Pallet Systems, and I think that was a key piece for acceptance,” Vaccaro said. “If an outsider came in or a tech company tried to do this, I think they’d have a lot harder time gaining trust and acceptance from the pallet community.”