RangeMe

Market position

Described by the company as the world's leading product discovery platform and reported in press coverage as the world's largest product discovery platform, used by major retailers. It is positioned against traditional trade shows and agent-led introductions as a digital channel for retailer-supplier connections, and is combined with ECRM's in-person sourcing Sessions to offer a broad sourcing solution across retail categories.

Combines always-on digital product discovery with ECRM's targeted, category-specific in-person buyer meetings, which the company presents as a more complete sourcing offering than either channel alone. Other stated differentiators include the RangeMe Verified retail-readiness badge with prioritized search placement, integrated NielsenIQ category and product sales data for buyer decision-making, and a global platform that lets a supplier in one market push products across multiple markets after regional platforms were consolidated.

Technology

A web-based marketplace with structured supplier and product profiles, advanced search and filtering, saved searches with notifications, team collaboration and follow-up tracking, profile and sharing analytics for suppliers, industry insights on which product attributes drive buyer engagement, and a verification workflow (RangeMe Verified) tied to search ranking. Trend surfacing draws on NielsenIQ category sales data and Instagram follower growth, and NielsenIQ customers get category and product-level sales data integrated into the buyer dashboard.

Go-to-market

Self-service supplier sign-up with freemium onboarding and upsell to paid subscription tiers, combined with vetted free buyer accounts. Buyer-initiated campaigns and immediate opportunities drive supplier submissions, and the ECRM relationship adds category-specific in-person Sessions and a dedicated client success team that matches suppliers to relevant buyers, categories and events. Customer success stories are used as marketing proof points.

Two customer groups: consumer goods suppliers and emerging brands seeking retail distribution, and retail and foodservice buyers ranging from the largest chains to community-based specialty operators. Categories served include food and beverage, health and beauty care, general merchandise, pharmacy and medical markets, and foodservice. Named users referenced in company materials include Vitacost (The Kroger Co.), Thrive Market and D's Market; press coverage cites Sephora, Walmart, Target US, Walgreens and Whole Foods Market as retailers on or associated with the platform.

Geography

Headquartered in San Francisco, with usage spanning the United States, United Kingdom and Asia-Pacific. The company was founded in Australia before the founder relocated to San Francisco, and previously ran separate platforms for Australia, New Zealand, the US and the UK before consolidating them into a single global platform; the founder later returned to Australia.

History

RangeMe was founded in Australia and later moved with its founder to San Francisco, where the founder said the US market was about 20 times the size of the Australian market for new emerging brands. Efficient Collaborative Retail Marketing (ECRM) acquired RangeMe to combine RangeMe's digital reach with ECRM's category-specific in-person Sessions; the founder has described selling the business in 2017 to a private equity firm that owned one of the company's biggest competitors. The company subsequently replaced its separate country platforms with a single global platform and expanded across Asia-Pacific, and grew headcount from about 40 before the COVID-19 pandemic to around 110 by 2021.

Risks & controversies

The company states that results for suppliers vary and that conversion from platform exposure to actual sales can take time, depending on product appeal, pricing, listing quality, buyer interest and category review timing. Suppliers may also incur charges beyond subscription fees for certain buyer meetings and campaigns.