Voices
Behind The Screens Of OrderWizz With Sébastien 
Having the right B2B platform for your business is key in today’s market. This is why Sébastien, the CEO of Playtime and OrderWizz, set out to create the best tool for brands and buyers. What started as an ordering platform has evolved over the years into OrderWizz, a strong, all-in-one wholesale platform.
Whether you work on it already or have yet to discover all of its wonderful features, join us as we interview Sébastien himself to learn more about OrderWizz and what it has to offer professionals in both the kids and adult industries.
Sébastien, CEO of Playtime and OrderWizzOrderWizz is born from the experience we have accumulated in the fashion industry over the years, both in women’s and kids’ fashion and design. As trade show organizers we’re constantly looking for solutions to give brands the best possible exposure, and provide buyers with an ideal working environment where they can get inspired and find the best brands for their stores.
But as the years went by, we realized that many of the brands that were exhibiting with us didn’t have the tools to work really efficiently and show their lines all year round to stores all over the world. So, that’s how we came up with the idea to create an international ordering platform that later evolved into an all-in-one wholesale platform.
A few years ago, we tried to reach out to other trade shows to promote the idea, but at the time we got a negative response from all of them who worried that digital platforms could mean the end of trade shows. Of course, everyone suddenly became very interested when Covid came. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, because it opened a lot of people’s eyes to the digital vs the physical, and showed them that it wasn’t either one or the other but the combination of both that helped you work more efficiently.
Having our own platform allows us to be in contact with buyers all year round, rather than just during the trade shows. It also opens so many other opportunities for our business and the brands that work on OrderWizz. It’s invaluable!
What really sets it apart from all other platforms is that OrderWizz is a re-investment company, meaning that all profits are constantly reinvested into research and development, as well as promotion, with one purpose in mind: to give brands and buyers the best platform to work on, at the most affordable price. This creates a very special relationship that allows everyone to fully take ownership of the platform.
OrderWizz is a completely different platform than it was 10 years ago. We’ve learned so much from our customers, and it’s helped us evolve constantly, at the most crazy pace, thanks to an amazing team of developers.
It was just an ordering platform in the beginning, but it has since evolved to be an all-in-one wholesale platform where brands can show their catalogues, sell their products, receive payments, work with their agents and distributors, create invoices (even fully certified electronic ones!), make packing lists, create and send html email campaigns, track their emails, search for new buyers and try to connect with them… There’s so much one can do, it’s really become a dream platform to work on!
I believe we now live in a world where the boundary between different sectors is much more blurred than it used to be. We work with many children’s brands that have developed women’s lines, and we’re also getting increasingly frequent requests from women’s brands that need tools that are both more effective and simple to use.
We ourselves come from the women’s fashion world, so this is a very natural « shift » for our company as we seek to further expand the offerings available to buyers.
Ella and RaphaI’ve always thought that 3 days at a show were never going to be enough for buyers to discover new brands, feel the market, and place their orders at the same time. So when we take out orders from that equation and allow them to do it quietly after the show, it creates new opportunities that they didn’t have before. Now they know that they don’t need to finalize all their orders at the show, they can do it online afterwards.
We also need to acknowledge that there are many stores with owners that can’t leave to go to a trade show twice a year, either because they don’t have the time or there’s nothing interesting enough close to where they are. OrderWizz fills that gap and allows them to find great products for their stores while being in direct contact with the brands, just like at a trade show.
Halcyon NightsI can’t just give you one, but I can narrow it down to three! First, the « Search & Connect » is definitely a star feature for brands. It was also one of the most challenging ones to imagine. The idea is to give brands access to a database of buyers and allow them to send connection requests, while being fully GDPR compliant by protecting any personal information and preventing buyers from being spammed.
The second feature I’m quite proud of having just integrated is electronic invoicing, because we’re the only fashion wholesale platform in the world that does it. It’s just fantastic to be able to invoice your customers from the same platform where you centralize your orders!
Our email campaigns are another great feature. I think it’s amazing what we’ve done with them because it takes buyers to the brand’s showroom, which normally requires a login, in just one click. Send an html email from any other system and it’ll take at least 2 or 3 clicks, in addition to remembering your login details, which is the best way to lose buyers! So the fact that we’ve found a workaround is incredible!
We have just completely changed the navigation, we’re about to launch a new ordering process for brands to make it even smoother, and we’re updating approximately 20 pages on the website for a smoother navigation experience.
We’re also implementing instant analysis of several crucial elements that brands use to warn them and prevent any possible mistakes that can result in losing a lot of time.
I think we’re more obsessed with evolution than we are with growth. We’ve already started using AI for a few things, but the potential of it is amazing. There’s so much we could do for brands and buyers, it makes your head spin, but we love a challenge!
Thank you to Sébastien for taking the time to answer our questions about the platform! Buyer accounts are free for verified retailers, so if you aren’t already placing orders on the platform, what are you waiting for? Create your account here, and check out some of our latest articles on fall fashion available in stock and new additions to the platform not to be missed!
As for brands, applications to join OrderWizz are always open, so book a demo here to talk to an expert about creating your own showroom on the platform.
