Angus Sullivan, Group Executive, Commonwealth Bank; and Jon Beros, Co-Founder and CEO of Little Birdie
Melbourne-based Little Birdie, an e-commerce startup aiming to become the “new home page for online shopping,” won’t be released until next month, but has already attracted a large investor. Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), the largest of Australia’s “Big Four” banks, invested A $ 30 million (approx. integrate. in its consumer banking app, which reaches 11 million retail customers in Australia.
Little Birdie says this brings his valuation to A $ 130 million (roughly $ 100 million). Compared to the US, where Amazon is by far the largest e-commerce retailer, Australian shoppers spend more time choosing between multiple platforms, including large marketplaces like eBay, Gumtree, Amazon, Woolworths, and a host of smaller vendors.
Little Birdie is slated to hit the market in mid-June, bringing together over 70 million products from various online brands and stores, with the aim of being the first place shoppers look when they want to buy something. Users can use Little Birdie to track and compare products, and check for price drops, sales, and offers. The SKUs come from a combination of brand partnerships and scraping ecommerce sites, with the bulk of them coming from product feeds from retailers.
Co-founder and CEO Jon Beros told TechCrunch: “The Australian e-commerce market is very competitive and quite fragmented with many retailers competing for market share. The pandemic accelerated online adoption and resulted in many retailers switching their online presence on or shifting focus online. With so many players battling for customer attention and driving up the cost of buying it, Little Birdie can really help retailers by providing a new marketing channel that delivers quality customer leads. “
Commonwealth Bank can access Little Birdie’s shopping content catalog to create targeted offers for customers, including features that link savings goals to specific items through their money management tools. Beros said Little Birdie will also seek two different types of brand partnerships: “First, with retailers who come on board to promote their exclusive offers and products on Little Birdie, and second, with major brands and media companies that have our shopping content in their want to integrate apps or websites. These integration partners ultimately deepen the value Little Birdie brings to its retail partners by helping to expand the reach of their offerings to a wider audience. “
The company plans to expand into Southeast Asia and the USA. However, Beros said there is still no set timetable for its international growth as it depends on the COVID-19 pandemic situation and when the borders will reopen.
In a press release, Angus Sullivan, General Manager of Commonwealth Bank Group said, “We believe customers should have access to the world’s best digital experiences, and our partnership with Little Birdie will give customers access to exclusive, industry-leading offers through the CommBank app. “