Josh Dornbrack- 17 November 2023
In the minefield of being bombarded with ads and things to buy on Instagram and TikTok, one start-up has set out to change the perception of e-commerce and transparency in online shopping.
Ovuvu, a start-up that launched last year and runs out of its warehouse in North London, offers a range of exciting products for the home, kids and pets.
Founded by entrepreneur, Daniel Tannenbaum, he spotted a gap in the market after seeing product after product being sold by influencers online and seeing his wife getting sucked in impulsive buying - when the same products were available online elsewhere but for much cheaper.
How did Ovuvu come about?
Tannenbaum explains, “We are living through a modern-day Leviathan, which is the official term for a bombardment of advertising.”
“We are sifting through our social media feeds during our spare time, but we are actually being sold products constantly. In the new era of Temu and Shein who market very aggressively on price and exposure, there has never been more available to buy.”
“But my gripe comes from social media influencers and dropshippers who entice you with different products that only cost $1 or $2 to buy or produce and they sell them for $30 or $50 and people go and buy them straight away, including but especially my wife!”
“For me, this lacks a massive amount of transparency and the way that influencers flaunt a lavish lifestyle and are constantly on holiday only adds insult.”
How is Ovuvu different?
“Ovuvu has not only curated some extremely cool items, including the steam brush for cats, the finger strengthener and the human-size dog bed - but the pricing is a huge differentiator.”
“In places, we are half the price of the average dropshipping and we strive for every product to be cheaper than Amazon.”
“Being fully honest, we are not cheaper than Temu who have the sheer scale of economics and have a foundation in China, but this is something to aim towards.”
“We are also passionate about giving back. Proceeds from the business go towards the community including shelters for animals in the UK and we are committed to sustainability. Whilst it is hard to promise sustainability when you are shipping things from China and delivering them all over the UK, the use of recycling and reusing packaging is a key part of our fulfilment process.”
“Having completed more than 5,000 sales in our first 4 months, we have an ambitious task of reaching 25,000 over our first 12 months and need consumers to understand our price transparency and commitments to better e-commerce in order to achieve this.”
For more information, visit Ovuvu.co.uk
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