{"id":10085,"date":"2023-08-18T17:51:59","date_gmt":"2023-08-18T17:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/startups\/going-after-amazon-publicsq-marketplace-targets-the-emerging-freedom-economy\/"},"modified":"2023-08-18T17:51:59","modified_gmt":"2023-08-18T17:51:59","slug":"going-after-amazon-publicsq-marketplace-targets-the-emerging-freedom-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mysourcefunding.com\/?p=10085","title":{"rendered":"Going After Amazon, PublicSq. Marketplace Targets The Emerging Freedom Economy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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While brands like Disney, Bud Light, Ben & Jerry\u2019s, Target
\n TGT
\n <\/fbs-ticker> and many more believe they must take a stand on social and political issues, consumers are starting to push back against so-called \u201cwoke\u201d corporations.<\/p>\n

Regardless of their political leanings, consumers still want companies to provide products and services that meet their needs. They also expect companies to be good corporate citizens and do right by their customers, employees, business partners, communities and the environment.<\/p>\n

Companies that go beyond that by pushing divisive political or social agendas are in danger of alienating a large segment of consumers who don\u2019t hold their progressive values.<\/p>\n

Those consumers are looking for an alternative and the PublicSq. marketplace gives them that. PublicSq. is on the vanguard of the Freedom Economy, an emerging movement that gives consumers the choice to vote with their dollars for companies that share their values or, at the very least, don\u2019t oppose them.<\/p>\n

After only a year since its launch, PublicSq. Holdings went public in July on the New York Stock Exchange to chants of \u201cUSA\u201d when founder, chairman and CEO Michael Seifert rang the opening bell.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe\u2019re going after Amazon
\n AMZN
\n <\/fbs-ticker>,\u201d he declared. And don\u2019t forget, Jeff Bezos had many scoffers back in Amazon\u2019s early days.<\/p>\n

Introducing The Freedom Economy<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe Freedom Economy is made up of a very large cohort of business and consumers that have felt largely unaddressed, ignored or sometimes downright antagonized in the era of hyper-progressive multinational corporatism,\u201d Seifert shared with me.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Freedom Economy is largely known for what it celebrates, like patriotism, excellence, meritocracy, a love for the country, the Constitution and the values protected by the Constitution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regrettably, those words of support for the country and its core values might sound controversial now, whereas they wouldn\u2019t just a few years ago. Budweiser CEO Brendan Whitworth acknowledged as much in his April 14 quasi-apology Message to America\u2013 \u201cWe are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,\u201d because it\u2019s in American homes, backyards, pubs and ballparks where most Bud Light is consumed.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Target is an American-based company with all stores and most of its business stateside, so waving the red-white-blue flag shouldn\u2019t be anathema to it either, especially after comparable sales declined 5.4% in the second quarter, a rate faster than expected. As a result, Target adjusted year-end guidance down to a mid-single-digit decline.<\/p>\n

Target suffered a self-inflicted blow in the quarter with its controversial Pride Month displays. It sparked outrage among some who felt the company had gone too far and criticism from others that the company was abandoning support for the LGBQ+ community when displays were moved to less visible spots in some stores.<\/p>\n

Through the process, the company learned that customers want to shop in a \u201chappy place for all our guests.\u201d In closing the earnings call, Cornell committed the company to being an \u201cescape\u201d and \u201crefuge\u201d where customers \u201ccan recharge and enjoy those shopping experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, shoppers want a respite from the divisive rhetoric and messaging so pervasive in the current culture. PublicSq.and its businesses partners offer that.<\/p>\n

PublicSq. Offers An Alternative<\/h2>\n

Today PublicSq. is a directory marketplace for consumers to access its 65,000 and counting businesses that share traditional American values. But in time for holiday gift shopping, PublicSq. will evolve to a full e-commerce website where customers can search and buy from one or many of its vendors in a single shopping cart.<\/p>\n

This innovation will turn on juice for PublicSq., making it a real competitor to Amazon and others. It\u2019s identified a roughly 100 million total addressable market. To date, it\u2019s reached only about 1.4% of its TAM. Already and without e-commerce, its six-month revenues through June 30 topped $900,000. \u201cWe\u2019re just getting started,\u201d Siefert said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s poised to become an alternative to Amazon\u2019s third-party marketplace for small businesses, which Statista reports accounts for nearly 60% of Amazon unit sales. With Amazon taking a growing share of third-party sellers\u2019 sales, PublicSq. provides an attractive alternative. And it does Amazon one better by listing service businesses so consumers can find local providers that share their values.<\/p>\n

Most of PublicSq. partners are small businesses that the Small Business Administration declares are the \u201clifeblood of the U.S. economy.\u201d Small businesses are defined as those with 500 or fewer employees. They account for 44% of U.S. economic activity and create two-thirds of net new jobs.<\/p>\n

And an overwhelming majority of Americans (80%) view small businesses as a positive force in society versus only 20% for large corporations, according to a Pew Research Center survey among 5,100 adults.<\/p>\n

Voting Values In The Marketplace<\/h2>\n

Seifert explained that PublicSq. is non-partisan and doesn\u2019t endorse political parties or candidates. Rather than being political, the five core principles to which its business partners agree are what one would call traditional American Judeo-Christian values:<\/p>\n