StockX Launches Product Release Model ‘DropX’
StockX is adopting the drop model with a new product launch concept called DropX.
DropX will allow for brands to launch or auction products direct-to-consumer through StockX and its millions of users. The concept is similar to StockX’s IPO model where the marketplace would do blind Dutch auctions for limited-edition collections and items, but according to Tom Woodger, StockX’s vice president of cultural marketing, the new concept allows for an increased frequency of product launches.
“Unlike the IPO, we have total flexibility,” Woodger said. He explained that brands can launch products at a suggested retail price or list items for auction and “benefit from the model of people willing to pay,” he said.
“We’ve been working in the background to ensure all of those variables are pressure tested,” he added. Brands could give a longer lead-time for product launches or drop almost immediately on the platform. “That’s why we’re excited about this,” he added. “We give brands enough ownership and flexibility as we can.”
Woodger said the first conversations for this concept began in February at NBA All-Star Weekend in Chicago. Brands had expressed the desire to get support from the company and consumers said they wanted to buy more niche and local brands. Woodger also said DropX supports brands greatly impacted by COVID-19 that were looking to reach a bigger audience and/or sell its excess product that couldn’t be sold due to the pandemic.
The first product launching is a J Balvin figure by Funko Pop! Rocks, retailing for $40 and limited to 500 pieces. On Aug. 13, London-based designers Carri Munden and Liam Hodges will drop 75 limited-edition T-shirts, which will retail for $100 each and come with four different vinyl transfers and a ticket to a live, virtual customization workshop with both designers, and on Aug. 18. Tommy Bogo’s Tombogo will release 10 cargo caps with New Era, starting at $120 and scaling up to $150.
“I’m excited to partner with StockX to release this Funko figurine because they’re the best place for me to find rare items that I can’t find anywhere else,” said J Balvin. “It only felt right to release this with them.”
StockX in July reported its first half of 2020 results and said it processed more than 10 million transactions, in which half of the transactions happened within the past year.
Its European business grew 200 percent year-over-year in terms of registrations, gross merchandise value and new buyers, and its overall business in May and June were its two biggest buyer months in its history in terms of sales transactions and gross merchandise value.
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