# Deck 15 · Supporting the Unmanaged — Curated Marketplace

**Status:** Draft (not yet built)
**Saved:** 2026-06-28 by Jeff (verbal)
**Owner:** Plex / OMX Strategy

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## One-line thesis

**OMX curates a marketplace of NZ business products and services we trust — so we can offer more to the unmanaged 540k without having to manage more. Focus on what we're good at; let partners do the rest. One OMX-backed credit account, one trusted brand, one experience.**

## The wedge — why now

- The unmanaged 540k buy office product from OMX, then go elsewhere for IT, cleaning, hospitality, tradie gear, professional services
- OMX has the customer relationship; it doesn't have the product breadth — and shouldn't try to
- A curated marketplace = brand-extension without inventory expansion
- Links back to **Global Search (Deck 05)** — search becomes the front door to OMX + curated partners
- The Ball + Ask Max (Deck 01) is the conversational layer; this deck is the commercial layer underneath the marketplace
- Modern open-finance + KYB makes the credit layer feasible to ship

## What this deck covers

1. **Curated, not open** — OMX picks the partners; quality bar, not an open marketplace
2. **Products AND services for NZ business** — both wings: product partners (cleaning supplies, IT hardware, hospitality consumables) + service partners (IT support, accountants, tradies, cleaners)
3. **Two integration models from partners** — defines how partners plug in (see open questions for sharpening); the goal is "offer more, manage less"
4. **One OMX credit account** — member spends across the marketplace, single statement, single limit. Funding model A or B (see below)
5. **Search as the front door** — Global Search returns OMX SKUs + curated marketplace results in one ranked list
6. **OMX's focus** — own the customer, own the rails, own the data, own the trust — not the entire supply

## What this deck explicitly does NOT do

- Not The Ball (Deck 01 / Ask Max already covers the physical trust object)
- Not a cooperative model with member equity (that's a different play; funding model here is A or B only)
- Not warehousing for partners (we're not third-party-logistics — partners fulfil their own)
- Not open marketplace (curation IS the product)

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## Problem framing (what's broken)

- **Wallet fragmentation** — owner manages 8-15 suppliers, 8-15 logins, 8-15 invoices
- **OMX brand stops at the catalog edge** — even loyal OMX customers go elsewhere the moment they need something OMX doesn't sell
- **No trusted curator** — "who do I get cleaners from?" "is this IT company any good?" — no NZ small-business answer today
- **No aggregated credit** — separate credit at every supplier, multi-portal cash flow juggle
- **Service buying is hardest** — products you can compare; services are reputation + word-of-mouth, exactly where curation adds value

## Benefits (the value story)

| Lever | Mechanism | Sizing approach |
|---|---|---|
| **Share of wallet** | Capture non-OMX adjacent spend through the marketplace | Each member's adjacent spend ~$5-50k/yr; OMX takes platform margin |
| **Brand-extension without inventory** | Offer more, manage less | OPEX/CAPEX-light vs adding SKUs to OMX warehouse |
| **Credit float** | If Model A (OMX-as-lender), net interest margin on revolving credit | Industry: 3-6% NIM on B2B credit |
| **Acquisition channel for partners** | Partners pay to join + transaction take rate | Industry: 5-15% take rate; lower at scale |
| **Search relevance lift** | Curated marketplace expands the answer space without polluting it | Strategic — Search (Deck 08 + Deck 17) becomes more valuable |
| **Trust position** | "OMX curates" becomes a brand promise like "Consumer NZ tested" | Long-term brand moat |
| **Customer retention** | Single credit + curated answers = high switching cost | LTV uplift |

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## Funding model — A or B (not C)

| Option | Description | Pros | Cons |
|---|---|---|---|
| **A — OMX as lender** | OMX issues credit, wears the risk, earns NIM | Captures full economics; full control of underwriting | Requires credit policy + balance-sheet appetite; RBNZ registration may apply |
| **B — White-label bank partner** | BNZ / ASB / Westpac issue the credit; OMX-branded experience | Lower capital risk; faster to market; partner does AML/KYB | Lower margin take; partner controls credit decisioning |

**Out of scope:** Option C (true cooperative pool / member equity) — Jeff's call 2026-06-28.

## Two partner integration models (to sharpen)

The "two business models from other companies" angle — open question. Working hypotheses:

| Model | What it means |
|---|---|
| **Hypothesis 1: Product vs Service partners** | Product partners (cleaning supplies, IT hardware) ship physical goods; Service partners (IT support, accountants) sell time/expertise |
| **Hypothesis 2: Drop-ship vs Referral** | Drop-ship partners fulfil via their own logistics; Referral partners get warm-lead handoff with OMX credit available |
| **Hypothesis 3: White-label vs Branded** | White-label partners sell under "OMX Plus" co-brand; Branded partners keep their identity but accept OMX credit |

Jeff to confirm which interpretation; deck shape will key off this.

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## Layout candidates from the gold standard

- **Cover** — small business owner at desk with one OMX-branded credit card; behind, a fan of partner logos in trusted brands. No clutter; centred on the card.
- **Problem vector grid (4-6)**: Wallet-fragmentation / Brand-edge / No-curator / No-credit-consolidation / Service-buying-pain / Search-stops-at-catalog
- **The curator promise** — what it means that OMX curates (criteria, quality bar, exit if standards slip)
- **Two integration models side-by-side** — visual; once sharpened
- **Funding model A vs B** — risk-economics table; recommend
- **Search-front-door diagram** — query → OMX SKU + curated marketplace results, blended ranking
- **Architecture pipeline**: Partners → Marketplace API → OMX Credit Engine + Search Index → Customer experience (web + Ask Max + Lens analytics)
- **Roadmap**: Year 1 (3 anchor categories + credit pilot) → Year 2 (10 categories + national credit) → Year 3 (full curated marketplace + member network effects)
- **The ask**: Build budget + credit-product framework + 3 anchor partner LOIs; staged commitment, vision-level numbers

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## Open questions to resolve

1. **The two business models** — which interpretation (hypothesis 1, 2, or 3 above, or something else)?
2. **Funding model A or B** — Jeff's lean; recommend after weighing balance-sheet appetite
3. **Anchor partner categories** — which 3 in year 1? (IT support, cleaning, accountants are the obvious; confirm)
4. **Curator authority** — what's the quality bar? Who decides in? Audit cadence?
5. **OMX brand vs co-brand on partner offerings** — "OMX recommended" vs "OMX-curated" vs neutral
6. **Connection to Stage 6 in Ask Max roadmap** — this IS Stage 6 (without the Ball — Ball stays in Deck 01)
7. **Connection to Deck 05 Global Catalog + Deck 17 AI Search-to-Sales** — marketplace partners feed search; search drives marketplace traffic
8. **Regulatory** — credit-product registration (RBNZ); FMA position; KYB obligations

## Audience

**Primary:** CEO/GM + CFO + Strategy. Multi-year strategic bet; brand extension without inventory expansion.
**Secondary:** Commercial Director — partner acquisition pipeline.
**Tertiary:** Legal / Compliance — credit-product, FMA, RBNZ shaping; Brand — curator promise.

## Reference

- Memory: **Ask Max Deck 01 slide 13** — Stage 6 marker; this deck IS that stage (without the Ball, which stays in Deck 01)
- Memory: **OMX Digital Strategy refresh Mar 2026** — Subscription = NO (simple model); curated marketplace is the bigger alternative
- Memory: **MBIE 2022 Small Business Factsheet** — 540k SMBs baseline (~594k current)
- Memory: **Plex-CI clean spine** — 4 verified suppliers; signals which existing distribution partners are credible to invite
- Memory: **Deck 05 Global Catalog** + **Deck 08 Web Optimisation** + **Deck 17 AI Search-to-Sales** — search is the front door of the marketplace
- Memory: **Subscriptions Deck 07 Angle C** — platform-licence is a parallel option; here OMX hosts the marketplace itself

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## Research deepening (background-agent, 2026-06-28)

### Farmlands cooperative model — quantified anchor

Farmlands is the closest analogue in NZ to what OMX is proposing — a **curated supplier network anchored on a single credit/card account**. Numbers to use in the deck:

| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| **Shareholders / members** | 80,000+ (some sources 70,000) | Farmlands.co.nz About + 2025 half-year |
| **Card Partner locations** | 7,000+ nationwide | Farmlands Card site |
| **Card annual sales (GMV through network)** | **$1.4 billion** | Farmlands Card Partner page |
| **Annual transactions** | **6.1 million** | Farmlands |
| **Group revenue 2022** | $1.25 billion (+15% YoY) | Farmlands 2022 Annual Report |
| **Group revenue 2025 trajectory** | revenue +10% half-year; $1.1B+ run-rate | Rural News 2025 H1 |
| **2024 profit** | $17.1M reported | Farmlands media release |
| **Model** | 100% farmer/grower owned cooperative; supplier rebates + member dividends; shareholder pricing at Card Partners | Farmlands About |

**The Farmlands-shape lesson for OMX:** the curated card-partner model already generates **$1.4B/yr GMV from 80k members across 7,000 partner locations**. OMX's addressable unmanaged base (540k SMBs per MBIE; 612k total NZ enterprises per Stats NZ Feb-2025) is **~7x Farmlands' member base**. Even if OMX captures 5% (~30k members) at $20k/yr average wallet through marketplace, that's **$600M GMV potential**.

**Sources:**
- Farmlands Card economics — https://www.farmlands.co.nz/join/card-partner / https://www.farmlands.co.nz/FarmlandsCard/
- Farmlands membership + revenue — https://www.farmlands.co.nz/about/annual-reports / https://www.ruralnewsgroup.co.nz/rural-news/rural-agribusiness/farmlands-half-year-results
- 2022 financials — https://www.farmlands.co.nz/Documents/AboutUs/AnnualReport/2022/Financial_Statements_2022_WEB.pdf
- NZ business count 617,330 at Feb-2025 — https://www.stats.govt.nz/information-releases/new-zealand-business-demography-statistics-at-february-2025/

### B2B marketplace take-rate benchmarks

| Platform | Take rate | Model |
|---|---|---|
| **Amazon Business** | $39.99/mo + 8-15% referral by category; trajectory $65B GMV by 2026 | Open marketplace + Prime Business |
| **Alibaba.com** | Subscription tiers + transaction commissions; $130B revenue Asia-Pacific | Open global B2B |
| **Faire** (curated wholesale) | 15-25% on first order; ~15% repeat; brand pays | Editorial curation, boutique-fit |
| **Ankorstore** (curated wholesale EU) | ~25% commission | Editorial curation |
| **General B2B marketplaces** | 5-20% of GMV typical | Industry benchmark |

**Source:** https://www.shopify.com/enterprise/blog/largest-b2b-marketplaces / https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2025/04/08/3057351/28124/en/

**Implication:** OMX-curated marketplace should target **5-10% take rate on GMV** (lower than Faire's 15-25% because OMX's value-add is curation + credit, not new buyer acquisition) plus **NIM on the credit float**.

### Funding model A — OMX as lender economics

Industry B2B credit NIM: **3-6%** on revolving credit (typical commercial-card / trade-credit benchmark).
- Year 3 marketplace GMV @ $200M -> $40M outstanding at 60-day avg terms -> $1.2-2.4M/yr NIM
- Funding model A requires RBNZ position on Non-Bank Deposit Taker status, AML/KYB compliance under FMA/AML-CFT Act 2009
- Capital reserve typically 10-15% of book

### Funding model B — White-label bank partner economics

- BNZ / ASB / Westpac white-label partner: OMX gets brand surface, bank takes credit decisioning + capital risk
- Typical revenue split: 30-50% of NIM to platform partner
- Faster to market (6-12 months vs 12-24 for Model A); lower regulatory burden
- Example precedent: Q Card (Latitude), Farmers Card, Gem Visa (Latitude white-label) — all NZ market models

### Hypothesis 1 vs 2 vs 3 — which is most credible

Based on Farmlands' "supplier rebates + member discount + one card" model, **Hypothesis 3 (White-label vs Branded)** maps most cleanly to a proven NZ pattern:
- **White-label tier:** "OMX Plus" co-brand — partner sells under OMX wrapper, full margin share
- **Branded tier:** partner keeps identity, accepts OMX credit + listed in curated directory

Hypothesis 1 (Product vs Service) is orthogonal — applies regardless of branding model.

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## Vectors + visuals

### Lucide icons
- **Cover hero:** i-shopping-cart (the marketplace) + i-shuffle (curated, not open)
- **Problem grid:** i-laptop (8-15 logins) / i-door (brand stops at edge) / i-life-buoy (no curator) / i-file-text (no credit consolidation) / i-coffee (service-buying pain) / i-search (search stops)
- **Curator promise:** i-sparkles (quality bar) + i-life-buoy (audit/exit)
- **Two integration models:** i-shuffle (drop-ship) vs i-shopping-cart (referral)
- **Funding model A vs B:** i-bar-chart (NIM control) vs i-shuffle (partner shares risk)
- **Search front door:** i-search -> i-sparkles (OMX + curated results blended)
- **Architecture:** i-smartphone (member) -> i-brain (OMX marketplace engine) -> i-truck (partner fulfils)

### Image concepts (cover + 5 key slides)
1. **Cover hero** — NZ small-business owner (cafe/tradie/dental practice — three composite shots) at desk holding a single OMX-branded card; behind, a faded fan of 8-10 partner logos. Source: NZ stock photography (Getty NZ Business Collection) or commissioned shoot — must read as NZ small-business, NOT US corporate. Anchor: "One account. Everything they need. Curated by OMX."
2. **The wallet fragmentation slide** — Real photo of an SMB owner's desk: 8-12 paper invoices in a stack, 3 different cards, a laptop showing multiple supplier login pages. Source: staged photo with real NZ invoices (sanitised); avoid AI-generated.
3. **Farmlands-shape evidence slide** — Quantified bar chart: Farmlands $1.4B/year GMV / 80k members / 7,000 partners. Then OMX target: 540k addressable / 5% capture / $600M potential. Source: pure infographic, OMX brand palette.
4. **Funding model A vs B comparison** — Two-column visual with NZ banking partner logos (BNZ/ASB/Westpac silhouettes for Model B). Source: brand assets, used nominatively.
5. **Curator promise slide** — Photo of an OMX category manager reviewing a supplier sample (handling a real cleaning-supply product or IT-hardware unit). Source: OMX internal photography of buying team. Caption: "We say yes. Then we check. Then we keep checking."
6. **Search front door slide** — Mock screenshot of a unified search result: top result is OMX SKU, second is a curated marketplace partner (e.g., a cleaning service), tagged "Curated by OMX". Source: Figma mock.