Oct 21, 2021

MarketTime acquires Brandwise

MarketTime, a provider of B2B omnichannel commerce solutions, announced the acquisition of Brandwise, a provider of sales enablement tools in the gift and home industries. The two companies bring more than 60 years of leadership and support $4 billion in annual wholesale commerce across dozens of consumer product segments.

With this acquisition, MarketTime becomes the largest B2B commerce solutions provider in North America, representing more sellers and reaching more retail buyers than any other company in the space. MarketTime now serves more than 300,000 independent retailers across North America, representing more retail locations than the top 100 largest retailers in North America combined and significantly more retailers than those served by wholesale marketplaces like Faire, NuOrder, or Joor.

The new combined company, called MarketTime, will continue to actively develop and support both the MarketTime and Brandwise solutions being used by more than ten thousand brands and salespeople in the gift, toy, home décor, housewares, apparel, beauty and sporting goods industries. The MarketTime family of solutions will accelerate the development and expansion of a global network that enables a seamless digital and physical wholesale commerce experience for customers including retailers, brands, sales representatives, and sales agencies.

MarketTime remains committed to serving the entire B2B commerce ecosystem including brands, sales agencies, sales representatives, marketplace sponsors, industry associations, and retail buyers. Starting immediately, the company will engage in plans to leverage combined resources, boost innovation, better serve customers, and fast-track new products.

“This is a rare opportunity to unify powerful and trusted solutions and to work together to transform wholesale and retail. Let’s be honest: the market of digital platforms is increasingly crowded, fragmented, confusing, and uncertain. We’re here to say there’s a better way. Combining Brandwise with MarketTime will help brands, sales teams and independent retailers be more efficient and grow their businesses with solutions built from within the industries we serve. MarketTime will stay true to our customers, while accelerating our leadership position,” Chris Happ, CEO of MarketTime, said.

Brandwise founders Todd and Jannetta Litzman will remain active leaders in the new company. Todd will serve as president of MarketTime, responsible for Product and Customer Success & Support, reporting to Jacob Teplin, COO. Jannetta will serve as executive vice president of MarketTime, responsible for Finance, Administration and Human Resources.

“MarketTime is the right strategic partner allowing us to deliver great solutions to our customers, faster and more effectively than we could do alone. MarketTime also shares our commitment to the industries and stakeholders we serve. We have known Hemal and the MarketTime team for years and have always respected the business and technology platform that MarketTime built. We are excited to combine our collective experience and deliver innovative solutions to our customers. Together we will continue to help them grow their businesses well into the future,” said Todd Litzman.

“This is an exciting day for MarketTime, Brandwise, and for our industries overall. I have devoted my entire career to building MarketTime to serve the wholesale community. Over the years, I have surveyed the competition, and Brandwise has always been a company I have respected and admired. Todd and Jannetta bring deep expertise, and I am thrilled to begin working with them to jointly serve our customers and the industries we all care so deeply about,” Hemal Patel, founder and CTO of MarketTime, added.

Crow Holdings, a leading national real estate investment and development firm, is a key investor in MarketTime. Crow Holdings helped create and pioneer the modern wholesale marketplace model, developing Dallas Market Center and the Brussels International Trademart. These iconic marketplaces bring hundreds of thousands of wholesale buyers, sellers, and salespeople together each year to conduct global commerce.

Michael Levy, CEO of Crow Holdings, said: “Crow Holdings’ investment in MarketTime is a natural extension of our company’s longstanding commitment to the business of wholesale and our belief in technology as a tool to reinforce and extend trusted commerce networks. We are excited to support MarketTime as the company works to help enable hundreds of thousands of retailers, brands, and sales teams to efficiently transact, anytime and everywhere.”

With this acquisition, MarketTime becomes the leading omnichannel B2B solution across the gift, toy, home, and related industries. Its hybrid cloud-based and offline applications available to customers anytime and anywhere fulfill three key needs: making product discovery and ordering easier for retail buyers; making organizing and sharing information intuitive and secure for brands and sales teams; and saving time and money for all ecosystem participants.

With the acquisition of Brandwise, the company now employs over 120 individuals, with hubs in Denver, Dallas, and India, thus providing a 24/7 team able to meet the fast-paced demands of all customers and industries.  The seasoned team brings hundreds of collective years of experience serving the unique needs of the B2B wholesale industry with unmatched speed and efficiency. MarketTime and Brandwise power omnichannel sales for over 300 sales agencies and 7,000 sales representatives who collectively sell over 6,000 brands to more than 300,000 retailers. Buyers, sellers, and salespeople transact over $4 billion of gross merchandise value from over 3 million orders annually through its platform.

Globally, the MarketTime solutions have been adopted by both Dallas Market Center and the Brussels Trade Mart as proprietary international platforms for linking buyers, salespeople, and brands together in virtual marketplaces across two continents. Additional international partnerships further extending MarketTime’s global reach will be announced soon.

MarketTime’s Brandwise also powers digital marketplaces for a collection of the most trusted trade associations and buying groups including the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA), the Museum Store Association (MSA), the International Housewares Association (IHA), the Canadian Gift Association, and Great American Media Services (Shop! Gift Shop Plus).

For more information on MarketTime, visit www.markettime.com and for more information on Brandwise, visit www.brandwise.com.