I think it is fair to say that it has been a disappointing few weeks for the Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN) share price. Since this time last month the ecommerce company's shares have lost 18% of their value.
Shareholders will no doubt be hopeful that an announcement out of the company this morning will lead to an improvement in investor sentiment and a rebound in its share price.
What was announced?
This morning Kogan announced the launch of Kogan Marketplace, which will give Kogan.com customers more choice and allow businesses to reach more customers through the Kogan.com platform.
According to the release, many leading retailers have already signed up to participate. These include household brands like Microsoft, Breville Group Ltd (ASX: BRG), Lego, Fisher-Price, Paw Patrol, SodaStream, Gillette, Gucci, and Philips.
Lazar Monin, the director of Kogan Marketplace, believes the launch of the platform is a big positive for both retailers and consumers.
He said: "The launch of Kogan Marketplace is a win-win-win for everyone. Retailers on the Kogan Marketplace Platform will get market-leading infrastructure and the ability to offer their goods to the Kogan Community. With today's launch, there are now over 100,000 products available to purchase on Kogan.com — meaning customers have more choice than ever before."
Kogan will earn a commission on transactions that take place on the platform, but no further financial details have been provided.
Should you invest?
I suspect that the market will like this announcement. Amazon Marketplace has been a big winner for the US-based retail and tech behemoth, so if Kogan can successfully copy this side of its business model then it could be a much-needed boost to its profits in the future.
However, I'm going to wait and see how Marketplace performs over the next 12 months before considering an investment. In the meantime, I would sooner buy retail shares such as Accent Group Ltd (ASX: AX1) and Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL).
