Tribaspace CEO talks to FashionUni​ted

As our new digital landscape is producing ever more innovative and creatively inclined online start up’s and platforms, FashionUnited caught up with Saydou Bangoura, CEO of TribaSpace. A new virtual B2B market for the fashion industry,

TribaSpace is a groundbreaking, online communication system, which allows companies to access global markets, anywhere, anytime. Providing fashion businesses – designers, sales agents, PR agencies, tradeshow organizers, B2B media, stylists, photgraphers etc (basically anybody in the fashion industry who has a product to sell or service to offer) - with an online software that allows them to create their own secure online showroom and thus giving them instant access to a global online B2B Marketplace, helping them reach the target group that makes their business tick: fashion professionals from around the world and from all angles of the business. After FashionUnited took their own virtual tour, we spoke to Bangoura about the online space, offering expanding global visibility, and the future for this exciting business model.

FU:How

did the idea for this new platform come about? And can you give me a key example of an advantage it offers?

SB:Having worked in the industry for almost 20 years as a sales and communications director, consultant, business developer and publisher I always had the feeling that certain communication and wholesale processes could be streamlined and improved. The internet has provided great new opportunities to solve some of these issues. For example, consider a buyer writing an order – back in the day they literally had to write repetitive product numbers, descriptions, colour, fabrics and sizes or at least manually type them into an Excel sheet. With the TribaSpace Online Showroom, the product information has already been entered by the showroom owner, so all the buyers have to do is type in the desired quantities and sizes within the designated fields. The amount is calculated automatically and it's easy for the buyer to stay within budget. This speeds up the ordering process tremendously.

FU: With such a cross section of clients – PR agencies, designers,buyers – how do you aim to keep your service niche/cater best to each one?

SB: We cater to each one of them by analyzing their specific business needs. That's why we have developed four different types of showrooms. We have a PR showroom that helps you streamline your PR processes, such as guest list management, high resolution image and press release distribution, and sample ordering for media productions, while the Sales showroom allows you to make product presentations, create your line sheet online and to conduct sales with buyers from around the world.

Rather than specialising in specific niches within the industry, TribaSpace has been conceived as a virtual B2B market – meaning that it aims to replicate the physical reality of the business and provide an overview of as many market participants as possible. Our Public Stream is a global communication platform and allows each company to increase global visibility by posting their company news and events and to connect with potential new clients. e.g. If a sales agent publishes news about a new collaboration with a new brand he promotes the brand to potential buyers, who could order in his online showroom. At the same time he also promotes his agency because other brands get to know more about him and his services.

FU: Can you give me a specific example of one your clients who has experienced growth/new demand from the TribaSpace/virtual showroom?

SB:One example is from a client that we are very proud to work with, Italian jeweller Bernard Delettrez, who recently bought an TribaSpace Online Showroom. I just visited him in Paris at his stand at 'Premiere Classe' tradeshow to view his beautiful new collection. Before he had uploaded his collection to his Showroom, a London based buying office had requested access to this Online Showroom and wanted to make an appointment. I don't know if they placed an order, but it is clear that they came into contact came via the TribaSpace platform.

FU:You’ve had phenomenal growth since launching earlier this year – what goals do you have for further connections and accounts within five years?

SB:TribaSpace currently hosts over 800 online showrooms and for us this is just the beginning. After two and a half years of development we just finished with programming the first stage of the site. Over the next couple of years we will continue to develop our services by adding more innovative features. We are currently starting to develop partnerships with industry players but at liberty to say whom yet! Also, in addition to the TribaSpace platform we offer companies our services to build customized software solutions.

FU:You pay particular attention to social media opportunities – how do you see the role of facebook, twitter /integrated media etc continuing within fashion?

SB:Social media is a great way to directly connect with clients in the B2C field and it really can work wonders with increasing your reach. That's why we originally decided to apply the principles and usability of social media to our application. However, In the B2B area Facebook and Twitter cannot play the same role, as corporate communication works differently. In business life, it is not simply individuals communicating with each other, but individuals representing a company. The message for business partners also differs from the one for consumers. TribaSpace has been conceived just for corporate communication, allowing our clients to communicate within the target group on a global scale. Nevertheless we encourage all our clients to share the content that they have published on TribaSpace with their network on the aforementioned social media sites.

FU: With the fashion industry suddenly saturated by new online launches, how do you aim to keep moving TribaSpace forward?

SB:It is true that lately more and more online launches are occuring; TribaSpace is, however, an inclusive service. Most of these launches specialize in only one field like PR or Sales, whereas TribaSpace covers the whole process chain of PR, professional networking and online wholesale, which means that we can offer greater added value to our customers from one place. What really matters in the online world, apart from the concept and visual aspects, is the quality of software development. We have paid special attention to aspects like security, privacy, robustness and usability, working with one of the best developer teams in Europe. The feedback that we get is that no other application has as many features, is as easy to use, does so much in many different fields while looking as fashionable. It is also important to know that we are a neutral technology provider who has no other interests in the fashion business world. This appeals to companies because they don't want to expose or link their business to a provider, who is owned by a corporation that has particular interests in business life, like a sales agent or tradeshow organizer. We also don't take a commission on the orders generated through the TribaSpace system. We don't supervise how much turnover you make and we don't think that anybody should. All we do is to provide you with IT infrastructure.

FU: You work across the globe – what differences/reactions do you note in the UK market to across Europe?

SB:The reaction to the product is great in general, as we help to solve quite a few problems for many companies. I find the UK market is extremely interested, not only due to our services, but because there is a great openness to innovation in general.

FU: How do you see the fashion industry as a whole changing with new virtual developments?

SB:The future looks exciting as the internet generally gives businesses more independence. It is now much easier for a designer to make his voice heard, to connect with clients and stay in tune, to interact directly and to buy and sell all in real time. It offers great new opportunities, but at the same time there are also new requirements because you need the right tools and the right platform. It's hard for a company to make all the right decisions and not spend a fortune on software development. We developed our services in order to offer instant and affordable solutions. We also see the internet as an opportunity for niche products to find its market – consider the music industry, for example. It is much easier now to connect with people of the same taste and interest.

FU:Can you give us any clues as what we can expect from TribaSpace next?

SB:I am excited to officially announce for the first time the launch of TribaSpace Marketplaces. Marketplaces are independently managed site areas that cater to the needs of specific market segments, product groups or regions. TribaSpace opens up its system to third party marketplace organizers like tradeshows, and offers them an out-of-the-box IT structure to independently produce, run and monetize their own online B2B marketplace hosted on TribaSpace.com. That will enable tradeshows organizers and others to develop an additional business field and to expand their services for their exhibitors throughout the year. TribaSpace Online B2B Marketplaces can be fully customized and branded by the marketplace organizer.