Founder Profile: Buying Local Online With Live.Shop.Buy CEO Joseph Anselmo

Small businesses are struggling to keep their stores open and workers employed. It’s difficult for them to compete against the big box stores, national chains and huge online marketplaces.

Most small businesses have “Cash-flow” problems so its expensive for them to build, host, maintain and promote their own eCommerce website. Three years ago, my partner Rich Hanley and I decided to do something about it so we started LiveShopBuy.

I have 36 years managing and building successful companies and establishing corporate strategies. I believe my decisive personality instills passion within my team, empowering their personal success. And I’m thankful for my combined technical and management skills which help direct our culture, vision, growth, and goals.

We’re like an Amazon, Groupon, Yellow Pages all in one, but exclusively for small to mid-size companies. On our platform merchants are more competitively priced than on Amazon and other marketplaces allowing them to sell products at a lower price with higher margins. And there are no monthly fees for merchants with up to 25 products.

We offer in-store-pickup for convenience and greater Brick & Mortar exposure. We have patent-pending technology so that when shoppers search for products or services, merchants that match the zip code in the shopper’s home profile come up first compared to other marketplaces, where merchants with the highest ratings and reviews get top billing.

Shoppers also have the option of clicking an “I’m Traveling” button, which changes our search algorithm to look for merchants in their new current location. Let me repeat this…. We don’t follow you unless you ask us to.

In addition to helping small business grow we are passionate about giving back to the community and inspiring others to do the same. Unlike Amazon Smile who donates back to existing charities which is great, our Community First Program gives back 5% of our net revenue into the communities where sales originate, funding existing programs for the homeless, senior care and food banks.

Bringing more foot traffic downtown, generating more revenue and giving back to the community is not only appealing to business owners but also to the communities. Six months ago, we partnered with the city of South Plainfield, New Jersey and registered 40 of their merchants who have helped us through our beta.

Combined, with other municipalities we now have thousands of products online most of which are from Mom & Pop stores and small online sellers from various other marketplaces including Amazon. We waived all monthly subscription fees for the merchants participating in our initial beta. We do however charge a 10% commission when they sell a product.

We ended our beta on September 4, 2018 when we launched our Reg CF OPO on StartEngine.com. We now have 93 merchants and just over 25,000 products online. We have a free forever Basic Subscription that charges a 15% commission on a sale.

Our Professional plan is as low as $29/month with a 12% comp. Our Premium plan is as low as $69/month with a 10% comp and we have our Enterprise plan for the merchant who needs more product SKUs and features.

Yes, Mom & Pops are interested in selling online but they require a little more tender loving care and hand-holding when it comes to setting up their account and getting their products listed. Although our target market is the small local business we’re seeing more seasoned online sellers registering.

There are many marketplaces out there, each with their own pricing strategy. It wouldn’t be a prudent business decision to keep raising and or lowering our rates every time another marketplace changes their pricing strategy.

I believe if you have a great product and you focus on the needs of your customers you’ll be ok. We keep pricing reasonable and affordable for all customers. Our free basic plan helps those who cannot afford paying monthly fees and or per-item fees as other marketplaces charge. Don’t get me wrong, we monitor pricing across many platforms and if changes are warranted we will certainly consider it.

In addition to our free Basic subscription we have three paid subscription plans each with additional features with increased inventory options. Under this model, as a merchant pays a higher monthly recurring price, the overall transaction cost goes down for them. So, it’s a win-win for our needs and theirs.

Our patent pending technology, features like pick-up-in-store, competitive pricing and low-cost entry to market is a no brainer for the educated retailer and business owner.

We are scheduled to launch to the public consumer in the second week of November. To date product sales are only because of consumers doing comparative shopping for a product with LiveShopBuy coming on top with lower prices.

One of our merchants by the name of Ooh La La lists her products on Amazon and LiveShopBuy. If a shopper found an Ooh La La item on Amazon and cut and pasted the product onto Google, LiveShopBuy would come up with a lower price for the same item.

It’s the same with our pocketbook line and women’s shoes. Our merchants can sell at a lower price and with higher profits in their pocket. It’s a win-win for all of us.

We just launched a REG CF Online Public Offering on StartEnigne.com. Fifty percent of all money raised will go directly to marketing. The balance of funds will be directed to sales, customer support and continued innovation of our platform.

LiveShopBuy is a perfect candidate for companies, eCommerce or otherwise, looking to reach more consumers and grow their market share through concentric diversification. We are scalable and their time-to-market would be immediate.

In its present configuration, our platform is scalable to generate profitability. Our margins will increase from 7% in 2019 to 64% by 2021.

I am extremely excited about our future and the impact LiveShopBuy will be making on communities. Our Community First program will be fully operational and that’s galvanizing to me. We will still be focused on helping small to mid-size business compete, grow and prosper but on a national scale. And the sheer thought that is very fulfilling to me.

Innovation and new technologies including AI, voice and virtual holographic storefronts will transcend the shopping experience to a whole new level. Who knows, in five years we may be shipping product to Mars!