Business Challenge
In March 2020, ReedPop, the world-leading producer of pop culture events (including New York Comic Con, PAX, C2E2, and more), was forced to change its business model overnight. It needed to keep afloat amid pandemic lockdowns that prevented in-person gatherings. The challenge required an ecommerce expert capable of web development content generation and the construction of an online marketplace from scratch, so ReedPop turned to Icon.
Solution
With an arsenal of ecommerce tools and a wealth of experience under our belts, building ReedPop a completely custom online marketplace was right up our alley. Completely self-service, TheHaul.com allowed vendors to register for an account, set up a storefront, and sync payments to their chosen point-of-sale platform. The storefronts took payments, calculated taxes, and even sent order notices. We were often invited to speak directly to potential vendors to assist with selling them on participating in the marketplace. Following the successful launch of the site, we then helped ReedPop expand into Amazon—supporting the development of its Amazon storefront, product listings, advertising, and product photography.
Results
Over the course of TheHaul.com’s lifetime, tens of thousands of comic books were sold (almost $150,000 in the first week)—just one measure of the marketplace’s success. We joined over 30 sales calls with potential vendors and helped register 100 vendors to the site. With these channel expansions, our work helped ReedPop weather the pandemic and provided thousands of customers with another way to shop and enjoy part of the experience of attending Comic Con.
