GET A PIECE OF ONLINE STORES
A platform for online retailers selling niche products
$145,545 Raised
REASONS TO INVEST
Big market: Online Stores websites get a combined 15M visits a year and serves 500,000 customers annually.
Customer satisfaction: Honored by Newsweek as one of the Best Online Shops of 2021.
Accelerated growth: OLS has a 22% average compound growth rate for 20 years using only retained profits and a secured bank line of credit.
OVERVIEW
A website for niche businesses to thrive
Online Stores Inc. is a retailer and manufacturer based in New Stanton, PA that sells a variety of niche items from English tea to LED lighting. The mission is to provide a one-stop hub for small companies to grow their sales and sell their merchandise, without having to invest in their own warehouse or website. OLS has 3 warehouses: 2 outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and the other in Sparks, Nevada.
OLS was founded in 2001 by husband and wife duo, Kevin and Lisa Hickey, in their basement. The Company now employs 135 staff.
THE PROBLEM
Selling online is costly and timely for new online retailers
Niche online retailers have to create and maintain their own website, technology, warehouse, fulfillment, and customer service model. Building and marketing an online store is a tremendous undertaking for a new business, which have limited brand recognition and resources.
THE SOLUTION
A one-stop hub for retailers
Online Stores is a hub for online retailers who are looking to provide a quality shopping experience. We recognize value and service is what brings people back to our platform. We sell a diverse selection of products to a diverse group of buyers. It’s allowed us to invest $7 million dollars developing an integrated order processing and warehouse management system that we believe outperforms those used by companies significantly larger than us. That is why some of our websites were recognized as being among the Best Online Shops in their categories by Newsweek in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
We've found our own ways to eliminate costs and improve operations without sacrificing our relationship with suppliers and buyers. Through our widely recognized and trusted brand name, we are able to build repeat business and website traffic.
Pride in Our Customer Service
To address the natural pain points of shopping, we have invested a substantial amount of time in developing our own customer service team that customers can call directly with product questions. We work with Five 9, a leading AI call center provider to automate our calls. We also integrated our website with our business systems to automate product reordering and drop shipping.
THE MARKET
$55M in sales reached in 2020
Online shopping is one of the most popular online activities worldwide. Not surprising, the global e-commerce retails sales hit a high of $4.28 trillion in 2020 alone. This trend was seen on the national level ($431.6B U.S dollars in 2020) all the way down to niche online retailers. Evident by the fact that there are 2,000+ niche online retailers, generating over $50B annual sales in the U.S. alone (Source: Pipecandy.com).
We also felt the benefits of this industry. Our sales reached $55M in 2020, and in October 2021 we had a record sales month, with $5.95M sales. Our advanced demand planning system has enabled us to remain well stocked. We currently have 30,000 products in stock and ready to ship, plus another 30,000 that we can drop ship.
OUR TRACTION
Serving 500,000 customers a year
We are proud that we serve 500,000 customers a year with high satisfaction rates.
We have a proven success rate of growth. Between 2010 and 2020, Online Stores has grown from a $27M to a $55M business. In 2020 alone, Online Stores saw a 15% growth in business. Now, we’re one of America’s largest niche retailers. We’ve grown at a 22% average compound growth rate for 20 years strong, and we look forward to keeping true to that momentum.
WHY INVEST
Order quality retail products with ease
Our vision is for Online Stores to become a household name in the U.S. and internationally within 5 years. But as of right now, we pride ourselves on offering quality products, friendly 24/7 customer service, fast delivery, and expert product knowledge.
ABOUT
HEADQUARTERS
1000 Westinghouse Dr., Suite 1,
New Stanton, PA 15672
WEBSITE
View Site
Online Stores is a web platform to sell and distribute niche products, with $55M in sales in 2020.
TEAM
Kevin Hickey
CEO, Director, and Chairman
Kevin has a Masters Degree in Engineering from Cambridge University in England, awarded 1983. Kevin founded his first company is England in 1987, supplying engineering diagnostic software shortly after the introduction of the PC. He was appointed VP of Sales and Marketing to Relex Software in 1998, who develop engineering test software, and started to use the Internet for product marketing. Kevin left in January 2000 to form a freelance online marketing consultancy. This led to the development of an online retail businesses, which evolved into Online Stores.
John Gilkey
COO
Lisa Hickey
President
Lisa has broad experience in management and established the management team and company policies from the start of the business. She helps formulate company strategy and direction, and assists with HR issues.
Crystal Rhome
Director of Technology
Eric Nonnenburg
Director of Sales, Merchandising, and Product Development
Eric joined Online Stores as Overseas Sourcing Manager in 2016. The company quickly recognized his strong management skills and he was given additional management responsibility for the companies inside sales team and then for the merchandizing department in 2017.
TERMS
Online Stores
Overview
PRICE PER SHARE
$2.50
DEADLINE
Apr 21, 2022
VALUATION
$18.67M
FUNDING GOAL
$10k - $5M
Breakdown
MIN INVESTMENT
$250
MAX INVESTMENT
$107,000
MIN NUMBER OF SHARES OFFERED
4,000
MAX NUMBER OF SHARES OFFERED
2,000,000
OFFERING TYPE
Equity
ASSET TYPE
Common Stock
SHARES OFFERED
Common Stock
Maximum Number of Shares Offered subject to adjustment for bonus shares
*Maximum number of shares offered subject to adjustment for bonus shares. See bonus info below.
Voting Rights of Securities Sold in this Offering
Each Subscriber shall appoint the Chief Executive Officer of the Company (the “CEO”), or his or her successor, as the Subscriber’s true and lawful proxy and attorney, with the power to act alone and with full power of substitution, to, consistent with this instrument and on behalf of the Subscriber, (i) vote all Securities, (ii) give and receive notices and communications, (iii) execute any instrument or document that the CEO determines is necessary or appropriate in the exercise of its authority under this instrument, and (iv) take all actions necessary or appropriate in the judgment of the CEO for the accomplishment of the foregoing. The proxy and power granted by the Subscriber pursuant to this Section are coupled with an interest. Such proxy and power will be irrevocable. The proxy and power, so long as the Subscriber is an individual, will survive the death, incompetency and disability of the Subscriber and, so long as the Subscriber is an entity, will survive the merger or reorganization of the Subscriber or any other entity holding the Securities. However, the Proxy will terminate upon the closing of a firm-commitment underwritten public offering pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933 covering the offer and sale of Common Stock or the effectiveness of a registration statement under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 covering the Common Stock.
Investment Incentives*
Time Based
Friends and family
Invest in the first 72 hours and receive 15% bonus shares
Super early bird
Invest in the next 72 hours and receive 10% bonus shares
Early bird
Invest in next 7 days and receive 5% bonus shares
Amount Based
$250+ Tier
- All shareholders get additional discounts at all our stores and faster and cheaper shipping options. Shareholders will get special pricing on all our stores, with 5 to 15% off our already low regular prices. They will also get free shipping on orders over $30 on all our stores (normally $50 - $99 depending on the store) and 30% discount on all expedited shipping. In addition, they will get access to exclusive shareholder deals and discounts, which will be sent out monthly by email. The discounted prices will normally stack with our other promotions to enable our shareholders to get double discounts.
$2,500+ Tier
- Invest $2,500 and receive 15% bonus shares
$5,000+ Tier
- Invest $5,000 and receive 20% bonus shares
$10,000+ Tier
- Invest $10,000 and receive 20% bonus shares + $500 in free products each year as long as the original purchaser still owns all the stock
*All perks occur when offering is complete.
The 10% StartEngine Owners' Bonus
Online Stores, Inc. will offer 10% additional bonus shares for all investments that are committed by investors that are eligible for the StartEngine Crowdfunding Inc. OWNer's bonus.
This means eligible StartEngine shareholders will receive a 10% bonus for any shares they purchase in this offering. For example, if you buy 100 shares of Common Stock at $2.50 / share, you will receive 10 additional shares of Common Stock, meaning you'll own 110 shares for $250. Fractional shares will not be distributed and share bonuses will be determined by rounding down to the nearest whole share.
This 10% Bonus is only valid during the investors eligibility period. Investors eligible for this bonus will also have priority if they are on a waitlist to invest and the company surpasses its maximum funding goal. They will have the first opportunity to invest should room in the offering become available if prior investments are cancelled or fail.
Investors will only receive a single bonus, which will be the highest bonus rate they are eligible for.
Irregular Use of Proceeds
Example - The Company might incur Irregular Use of Proceeds that may include but are not limited to the following over $10,000: Vendor payments and salary made to one's self, a friend or relative; Any expense labeled "Administration Expenses" that is not strictly for administrative purposes; Any expense labeled "Travel and Entertainment"; Any expense that is for the purposes of inter-company debt or back payments.
ALL UPDATES
REWARDS
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
0/2500
Stefano Acquista
2 years ago
Hey I just invested some in your company- I have just an idea for next steps I would love to discuss with someone - if you can contact me I would really appreciate it.
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Kevin Hardman
2 years ago
1) I need a little help with the math. When I apply a 22% growth rate to $3M for 19 years (2001 - 2020), I get $131M - not the $55M noted in your pitch. Can you provide some clarity on your calculations?
2) Netting $500K on sales of $55M suggests that your margins are razor-thin. What's the plan to increase profitability?
3) Which of the stores/lines of business are actually profitable, and have you considered selling those that are unprofitable?
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jared truscott
2 years ago
1) Looking at your history it looks like you have had 2 major successes. Both involving some sort of tragedy. You launched a flag store following the events of September 11, 2001. You also claim that you made 55m in 2021 DESPITE the pandemic. One could argue you made 55m BECUASE of the pandemic. As you are aware, you were/are a provider of PPE during a time when (partially) the only way to get that equipment was online. Ethically, this does cause some me some concerns. What charitable organizations are you involved with, or do you do any type of community outreach, etc...? As an investor that’s important to me.
2) In your Form C, I see you have multiple moving pieces within your current business and expansion plans (international growth, manufacturing, acquisitions, product expansions AND a new business). It's hard for me to figure out why a company that can manage all this DESPITE the pandemic needs to crowd source 5m. As an investor, I must be honest here, why crowdsourcing? You don't have any better options?
3) Finally, the easiest question, I think. In 2019 Net Income was down approx. 0.5m, the following your Net Income increased approx. 1m dollars. Why were you able to make such a drastic change in one year, but still find yourself a year later crowdsourcing money for expansions, acquisitions, etc... that you already started?
I’m sorry, but it’s hard to swallow that your company is currently expanding internationally, while also planning on increasing manufacturing, AND growing their core business, AND increase their product line, AND launching a “new ecommerce products and services business to supply the advanced ecommerce technology we use to operate our own business to other small and medium sized businesses”. AND you only need 5m more EVEN though your company made OVER 100m dollars 2020 – 2022. How can your company do all these things, despite not being able to find an extra 5m over 2 years when you completely flipped your net income from 2019-2020?
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Ashutosh Goyal
2 years ago
There is not much increase in revenue for 2021
$57M in comparison to 2020 $55M, where as companies have grown atleast double from 2020 to 2021 especially niche small manufacturers as everything went online due to pendamic and every small business is looking for platform to go online instead of creating their own website
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Kenneth Alan Jackson, Jr.
2 years ago
Intriguing pitch. Why is the valuation for this offering roughly $19M when your revenues are $55M annually? I've never seen a price-to-sales ratio that low within Regulation CF. Also, how will you continue growing when larger e-commerce aggregators (such as Amazon) already exist? Are you hoping to usurp them at some point? Thanks in advance for the feedback.
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Vilem Fruhbauer
2 years ago
Hello,
I have some questions for you. Per the US Department of Commerce the revenues of e-commerce sector grew over 100% last year, you revenues only grew less than 20% during the same period 1) Why is your growth 5 times slower than the rest of the e-commerce sector? https://www.census.gov/retail/mrts/www/data/pdf/ec_current.pdf
I see that your revenues doubled in one decade. For example Amazon doubled revenues from $200B to $400B only in just three years between 2017 and 2020. 2) Why can such a giant manage to grow at a three times faster pace than your business, why it is not the other way around as one would expect for a small business to grow faster than a gigantic one?
Similar question to Yosef below - everywhere in your pitch you have 2020 numbers, but not a beep about your 2021 numbers - 3) Is is correct to assume that your 2021 numbers are nowhere near your 2020 numbers and that is why they are not mentioned anywhere? 4) Are you planning to file in January your Form C-U or Form C-AR with your 2021 financials? 5) Why are you raising money now? Thank you, V
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Yosef Hertz
2 years ago
What are your YTD sales/revenue? Considering it's December this is crucial.
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Dalton Blalock
a year ago
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