CINCINNATI -- Everything But The House is taking the wraps off future growth plans, including its first international expansion and a retooled website that creates new merchandising opportunities at the online marketplace for estate sales.
The website went live this week. The global expansion will come in the next 18 months, with the opening of an EBTH office in a yet-to-be named city outside the U.S.
“We’ve got bidding activity from 46 different countries,” CEO Andy Nielsen said. “That tells you the reach of this platform is global at this point.”
One of Cincinnati’s more successful startups, EBTH has more than 500 employees and booked 2015 revenue of $30 million. It has so far raised $43 million from investors in pursuit of an expansion strategy that would establish EBTH offices in 50 U.S. cities. So far, 19 have been announced, including Austin and Houston – which opened in January and February. Openings in New York and Connecticut are expected by this spring.
EBTH has also beefed up its management team, recruiting Chief Marketing Officer Sachin Gadhvi from Ticketmaster in December and Chief Brand Officer Mandana Dayani from Rachel Zoe Inc. in August. Dayani led the redesign of the EBTH website.
Nielsen said the redesign is intended to provide a “clean, refreshed current look” along with some technical improvements to enable the creation of “curated boutiques” that could increase the selling price of merchandise and drive future revenue growth.
“This will enable us to do is partner with merchandisers or interior decorators,” Nielsen said. “They can go thru and hand-pick items from across a variety of sales. So, if you’re a buyer of mid-century modern you can find a design enthusiast that’s hand-picking items. They fit your unique buying experience.”
Nielsen declined to reveal internal projections on how much the new merchandising strategy will increase revenue, but he did reveal an increase in subscribers when the new site featured an “Art of Travel” collection in which “an Austin couple shares a lifetime of collectibles from around the world.”
Nielsen said “email subscriber sign ups” increased 75 percent on the day the site debuted, but wouldn’t say how many new subscribers that generated.
“We’re excited about expanding our reach,” he said. “We’ve got our eyes set on building a global brand that serves clients near and far. This platform gets us one step closer to doing that.”
Nielsen said EBTH has identified several potential expansion cities in Europe and Canada, but declined to provide more detail. It’ll spend the next 12 months learning about shipping, logistics and transaction customs that could impact its operations.
“The service is needed everywhere,” he said. “There are sellers there with generations worth of inventory that need to be brought to light and the stories need to be told. We believe we can provide the most rewarding experience for the sellers that are located all across the world.”
