Thomas Mitchell is creating a platform that merges ecommerce, social media and old-fashioned magazines. The target market of these ambitions? Sneakerheads.
SnkTrd on iOS. (Courtesy of SnkTrd)
Existing platforms like Instagram and eBay are home to millions of users and billions of dollars in sneaker transactions. With SnkTrd, Mitchell is looking to create a platform that’s fosters community, rather than simply a place to show off or just make a transaction.
“I’m not necessarily creating a community,” Mitchell, whose company is based in Camp Springs, Md., told a crowded TechBreakfast Columbia last week. “I’m just creating the best possible platform for a community that already exists.”
From events like the Baltimore Sneaker Show to people who are showing off their limited edition kicks on social media, Mitchell wants to tap into a community that is about more than buying and selling.
eBay presided over tens of millions of dollars in sneaker transactions last year, and the secondary sneaker market is estimated to be over $1 billion, Mitchell said. For the younger sneakerheads that all advertisers are aiming at, however, the real hotspot for sneakers is Instagram. That’s why having an active social media component is important to him.
Since launching in 2013, SnkTrd has snagged about 1,800 users signed up for profiles on the site. Mitchell says growth has been mainly through word of mouth. In March, SnkTrd will roll out a mobile app marketplace where users can upload pictures of their shoes, put them up for sale, trade or do a little bit of both. There’s also a social media component where users can post status updates.
“The goal was to create a platform where everything that encompasses the sneaker community could be under one umbrella,” he said.
Taking some cues from imprints like Complex Magazine and Kicks on Fire, a magazine section will also feature the latest updates. Mitchell envisions most of the content posted by users, with other digital media filling out the rest. The crowdsourced content is grounded in the idea that “no one knows sneakers better than the people who actually participate in the community,” he said.
The pitch had at least one TechBreakfast attendee ready to lace it up. When it came time for questions, she skipped the queries about financing, and asked to see if she could search for a new pair of Nike Supreme Air Force Ones, in red.
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