The online marketplace gives growers and sellers an alternative way to take their wool to market. Wool is listed on Wool Online with all standard test information, and buyers compete for it online via sales that are held more frequently than the traditional auction calendar. Over 17 seasons, the platform has handled more than 900,000 bales worth over NZ$400 million.
The investment follows significant growth in wool traded through Wool Online, with the volume of bales sold per season in the online sale doubling over the past 12 years. The growth is particularly significant at a time when the overall volume of New Zealand’s wool clip has declined 15% over the past five years.
Wool Online estimates its market share has tripled, rising from 9% in the 2013/2014 season to 27%, and now facilitates the sale of nearly one-third of New Zealand’s crossbred wool through the open market system.
Wool Online partner Mark Hunter says the increase reflects a shift in how farmers are choosing to take their wool to market.
“We’re seeing more wool coming through Wool Online even as the overall clip is contracting. A significant part of that growth is being driven by farmers choosing to work with either local merchants, or alternative sellers like Wool Works Grower Direct, who use Wool Online to trade their clients’ wool.”
“Increasing participation is important to maintaining competition within New Zealand’s wool market. We want to make it as easy as possible for buyers to bid for wool, while giving sellers and growers access to an alternative marketplace with robust competition,” he says.
“The level of activity we are now seeing demonstrates why that capacity and technology matters. At a recent sale in September, five individual lots of half-bred oddments attracted over 700 bids, this is not physically achievable in the open cry auction,” says Hunter.
Wool Online’s Auto Bid function enables buyers to put their best price in before the sale starts, and the system automatically bids up to the highest price, and this happens in a matter of seconds.
With the volumes coming through the platform continuing to increase, Wool Online needed to ensure the technology had the capacity, features and performance to support the business today and in the years ahead.
Investment to support the next phase of growth
The updated platform provides improved speed and reliability to the online marketplace as trading volumes and activity increase. Feature upgrades include improved reporting options, and a fully responsive user interface, which makes it easier for buyers to use in a mobile environment, allowing them to trade anywhere, anytime.
The technology also provides a foundation for further development as the requirements of growers, sellers and buyers evolve.
Principal software engineer Isaac Udy has led the development alongside Wool Online founders Allan and Janet Udy and Greg Tibbs, combining specialist software and technology expertise with decades of wool industry experience.
“We’ve taken what has worked well over the past 17 seasons and built a platform capable of supporting significantly more activity,” Udy says.
“The result is a faster, more intuitive and more capable trading environment, with the capacity to handle increasing numbers of lots, buyers and bids while maintaining the reliability and transparency users expect from Wool Online.”
The new platform, combined with flexible selling days and more frequent sales provide buyers with more opportunities to purchase wool, often more than once a week.
New Zealand Wool Services International Trading Manager Nathan Watt was part of the industry consultation during the platform’s redevelopment, providing buyer feedback throughout its design and testing.
“For buyers, speed and ease of use are critical, particularly when you’re working across a large catalogue of wool types, we need to make decisions quickly,” he says.
“The enhanced Wool Online platform makes the process more streamlined, and the mobile capability means we can trade efficiently without the confines of an office.
“It’s also positive to see investment being made in technology that is responding to the market’s needs and provides an efficient and competitive marketplace.”
About Wool Online
For generations, the wool industry has been built on relationships, trust, and specialised expertise. Today, those foundations meet the power of digital innovation through the Wool Online platform.
Wool Online was established in 2009 as a joint venture between Wool Connextions Limited and Golden Micro Solutions Limited, bringing together the wool industry knowledge and expertise of Greg Tibbs and Mark Hunter with the specialist software development capability of Allan, Janet and Isaac Udy.
With a focus on continual platform improvement and ensuring the platform is designed with the future in mind, Wool Online is committed to developing the technology, service and trading environment that will meet the needs of the New Zealand wool industry both for now and in the future.
Data sources
yarnsandfibers.com
farmersweekly.co.nz
Media contact
Georgina Hunter
georgina@morethanwords.co.nz · +64 27 474 7437