Juniper Market Preps for January Launch with Phased Select Buyer Preview

December 6, 2021  by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry   

“We are putting the final touches on JuniperMarket before our grand opening,” explained Bill Furlong, Juniper CEO. “These 30,000+ invited users will give us final insights that will ensure we have the intuitive, omnichannel tool buyers need when it opens to the full retail and design community at the start of the winter 2022 buying season.”

The preview buyers – a combination of active users of Juniper as well as loyal attendees to IMC’s physical markets in Atlanta, Las Vegas and High Point – represent a cross-section of buying power coming from retail stores and design firms of varying sizes and diverse geographical locations. This final four-week invitation-only stage, which welcomes thousands of new buyers weekly, follows two previous month-long testing phases during which smaller, select groups of buyers were invited to use the platform for discovery and order-writing and to provide feedback about their user experience.

“We’ve welcomed buyers’ actionable feedback from our earlier test phases, and we look forward to this last larger-scale push before the full launch,” added Furlong. “Our outreach to buyers at IMC’s physical markets over the last year has built a large pipeline of interested – and eager – retailers and designers. Beyond that, IMC’s database of 600,000 qualified buyers – designers and retailers large and small – offers an opportunity for us digitally to connect hundreds of industry-leading brands and sales agencies with thousands of buyers globally.”

Commerce-ready content on JuniperMarket has accelerated going into the launch with some 1 million SKUs now live on the site, with an average of 30,000+ gift, home décor, furniture, housewares, apparel, jewelry, beauty/ wellness and food/ beverage products being added each week. National brands currently live are Amity Home, Auskin, Authentic Models, Bethany Lowe, Brownlow Publishing, Corkcicle, Cyan Design, Harold Import Company, HomArt, Kahuna Chair, Kalalou, Ooly, Park Hill, Reliant Ribbon, Rolf Glass, Roman, Sagebrook Home, Seasons Jewelry, SeaStones, Sugarboo, Sullivans, Two Lumps of Sugar, Zuo Modern and others.  Industry-leading sales agencies also are well-represented, with Anne McGilvray & Company, CMA, Ivystone, Sales Producers, Simblist Group and The Link Companies’ seven agencies (Link2Sales, The Southern Link, The Central Link, The Northern Link, TMA Link, Total Accessories and Key Sales) showcasing tens of thousands of products on JuniperMarket.

“Onboarding the first million SKUs was the hard part,” said Furlong. “Now new suppliers are eager to join, contracted suppliers are actively building their presence and current brands are expanding their offerings at a rapid pace.”

JuniperMarket will celebrate its official January launch with a series of events at IMC’s Winter 2022 Atlanta Market and Las Vegas Market.

Programming set for Atlanta Market (January 11-18, 2022 at AmericasMart Atlanta) includes the Market Kickoff Party on Wednesday, January 12 and daily happy hours on Thursday, January 13 through Saturday January 15 in the JuniperMarket Experience Center (Building 3 atrium) with photo ops, product vignettes, swag bags, demonstrations, brand ambassadors and more. JuniperMarket also presents a seminar “Bringing Your Business Digital – It’s Easier Than You Think” exploring tools to simplify wholesale buying on Thursday, January 13. Additionally, JuniperMarket sponsors a lunch for temporary exhibitors on Tuesday, January 11.  For more information, visit AtlantaMarket.com.

For Las Vegas Market (January 23-27, 2022 at World Market Center Las Vegas) Juniper Market presents the Market Kickoff Party with special entertainment and drinks in the Grand Plaza Courtyard on Sunday, January 23. JuniperMarket again presents “Bringing Your Business Digital – It’s Easier Than You Think” for West Coast buyers on Sunday, January 23.  For more information, visit LasVegasMarket.com

Buyers can register for JuniperMarket when they register for either market and at the JuniperMarket Experience Centers at both markets.  Interested brands can meet with the sales team during Atlanta Market in Building 1, Floor 9 and at Las Vegas Market in Building C, Floor 1.

“JuniperMarket’s programming in Atlanta and Las Vegas will celebrate our launch as well as the official start of an a symbiotic – and fruitful— relationship between physical and digital markets,” noted Furlong. “We look forward to joining with the industry as we toast to the opportunities that are to come!”