Remember the last impulse purchase crucial gadget you bought on Amazon? Perhaps it was a deep-tissue massage gun, or a bright light therapy lamp.
You may not remember the brand name, but there’s a good chance it’s owned by an Amazon roll-up — a company that aggregates successful Amazon merchants.
Elevate Brands, one such roll-up, just snagged a cool $250m, per TechCrunch. It’s the latest in a flurry of investment in the space (e.g., $2B for Thrasio, $400m for Razor Group, $70m for Heyday).
Amazon merchants make prime acquisition targets
It’s estimated there are 5m+ sellers on Amazon’s marketplace. As our Trends team reported back in May, there are 3 main reasons investors love them:
- Amazon itself is deeply entrenched among consumers and is likely to keep growing market share.
- Amazon handles warehousing and shipping, allowing roll-ups to quickly cut costs and boost profits by consolidating supply lines.
- With enough brands, a roll-up might be able to negotiate with Amazon for better prices or personalized service.
Elevate started as sellers before joining the roll-up gold rush
This hands-on experience helps them relate to their acquisition targets. It also means they know what it takes to grow an Amazon marketplace brand.
Unlike other roll-ups, Elevate doesn’t focus on specific product categories. With 25 companies under its umbrella, the only common thread is a preference for businesses with patents.
The roll-up market is crowding fast
More bidders mean more competition, leading to bigger deals. This is great news for Amazon merchants, but for roll-ups — not so much. In this context, differentiation will be key.
The bigger question as the roll-up market gains steam: When will we see the first roll-up of roll-ups?
