StockX, an ecommerce reseller in Detroit, today announced the opening of new authentication centers in Hong Kong and Toronto, further expanding the company’s global footprint and its ability to serve a growing international customer base.
The company’s digital platform — which launched with sneakers, apparel, and luxury accessories — has since added collectibles, a quickly expanding category that includes high-growth items like trading cards and electronics.
StockX also opened its Portland (Oregon) Authentication Center earlier this quarter and together, the three new locations grow the company’s global network by 50 percent. The expansion comes as the company reports record growth in 2020, surpassing $2.5 billion in lifetime gross merchandise value (GMV) in June, and seeing a record 25 million monthly global visitors in its third quarter.
Authentication centers are critical nodes within its supply chain network, StockX officials state. Along with tech-forward advancements like the company’s proprietary All-In Pricing feature, the additional facilities enable lower fees, reduced shipping costs, and faster delivery and payout options for local buyers and sellers.
While StockX customers across Canada and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region have had access to the 115,000 product listings that comprise the StockX catalog since 2016, the addition of authentications centers in Toronto and Hong Kong affords customers in both markets access to an enhanced end-to-end customer experience.
“Planting a stake in the ground in these two fast-growing markets — each with a rich history and longstanding ties to sneaker and streetwear culture — represents a pivotal step in cementing our position as the world’s leading resale platform for current culture products,” says Scott Cutler, CEO of StockX. “This move enables us not only to meet the high demand we’re seeing in these markets, but to provide our global customer community with the highest level of service.”
Following the opening of a Tokyo office in 2019 and the launch of a localized experience in Japan in early 2020, the Hong Kong facility further solidifies the company’s presence in APAC, one of StockX’s fastest-growing markets globally.
Sell-side transactions across the region have increased more than 500 percent year-over-year and are up 1,000 percent in Hong Kong specifically, the company states. StockX also reports growth in Canada, with sales from Canadian sellers up more than 150 percent in Q3 2020 compared to Q3 2019. Toronto also is StockX’s first non-US authentication center in North America, and an important addition given its geographic proximity and close ties to U.S. brands.
With the addition of the Hong Kong, Toronto, and Portland locations, StockX’s global network now includes nine authentication centers around the world.
“As a company at the forefront of current culture, StockX is well-suited to meet the needs of next-generation consumers both today and in the future as their desires evolve,” says Cutler. “Whether expanding our presence globally, exploring category diversification, or rolling out innovative partnerships and product features, we remain committed to scaling in a way that authentically connects with customers in every part of the world.”
The StockX platform features hundreds of brands across verticals including Jordan Brand, adidas, Nike, Supreme, BAPE, Off-White, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Rolex, and collectibles from artists including KAWS and Takashi Murakami.
Founded by Dan Gilbert, Josh Luber, and Greg Schwartz in 2016, the company employs more than 1,000 people in more than 14 offices and authentication centers around the world, and facilitates sales in more than 200 countries and territories.
In the September/October issue of DBusiness magazine, Schwartz was featured in the annual “30 in Their Thirties” feature, which can be found here.
