About 9.5 months ago, I had the idea for an “Anti-Amazon Marketplace” essentially a place to make it easy for us to find and support small, sustainable businesses instead of funding multi-billion-dollar corporations.
That mission hasn’t changed. But thanks to your support and many other things happening behind the scenes, OtterList.com has been evolving quickly. We now have 107 approved brands and 2000+ products.
A Hybrid Marketplace with Direct Checkout
A few weeks ago we launched Direct Checkout, allowing customers to purchase some products directly on OtterList without leaving the site. Previously, all products linked to each brand’s website for checkout.
We ran into a few technical issues at first that slowed things down - sometimes building things the right way requires taking a step back first - but we worked through them and are now ramping things up.
Shout out to Vinavant, Blue Fox Organic and Earth Bands for being among the first brands to complete their vendor pages and start selling through OtterList.
Website Features
We recently launched a powerful new search feature with predictive typing, making it easier to find products and filter results by Core Standards and Certifications.
We also added a Wishlist feature, so you can save products and organize them into categories for later. This is especially helpful for items that currently link to a brand’s website for checkout.
We’ll continue adding new features and improving the experience as OtterList grows.
Outreach to Sustainable Brands
Behind the scenes, I’ve been building a master list of over 1,000 sustainable brands that I’ve discovered or that have been recommended to me.
If you know a sustainable brand that should be included, feel free to reply to this email and let me know. I’m working through the list every day and am currently reaching out to 10–20+ brands daily.
Email Subscribers
Just since January, the OtterList newsletter has grown from about 1,000 subscribers to more than 4,200.
If you know someone who likes supporting small businesses or discovering sustainable brands, feel free to forward this email or share OtterList.com with them. Every new person who finds the marketplace helps more independent brands get discovered.
Substack Supporters
Right now I’m about 500 supporters at $5/month away from being able to work on OtterList full-time.
That support would allow me to spend significantly more time building the platform and to continue to reinvest everything back into OtterList during these early stages.
If you’re already supporting the project, thank you! It genuinely means a lot. And if you’re simply following along and sharing the mission, that helps more than you know.
We’re still early, but the foundation is starting to take shape.
My mantra is “More great brands. A better shopping experience.” and every day I work toward that in some way.
Thanks for being a part of this journey.
— Kyle