MarketTime has 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 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.
Chris Happ, CEO of MarketTime, said, “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.”
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.
Crow Holdings, a real estate investment and development firm, is a key investor in MarketTime. Crow Holdings helped develop Dallas Market Center and the Brussels International Trademart. 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.”
