Supplier Success Stories with DigiKey's Marketplace: Coolgear Inc.
In 2019, DigiKey launched Marketplace to create a repository for engineers, technicians, and general consumers across all industries to find their electronics and technology product needs in one place.
This blog series will cover a new supplier with each edition and will provide insight into what Marketplace has done for them and the value it brings.
Supplier success story #2: Coolgear Inc. is a leading manufacturer of USB hubs, chargers, serial devices, adapters, and cables that has been around for over 20 years. To accompany their next-gen designs, they also provide excellent customer service and technical support.
Knowing how crucial interactions with their customers are, we recently inquired to Nick Arboleda, Ecommerce Manager at Coolgear, about the benefit that DigiKey’s Marketplace has brought to those interactions and their business overall.
How has the DigiKey Marketplace helped you grow your business?
“The partnership with DigiKey has provided us at Coolgear with recognition on a global stage. Our opportunity to share our products with more customers and do so in a way that is easy for them to buy is absolutely game-changing.”
What growth have you seen since joining Marketplace?
“Since working with DigiKey, we've seen an 11% growth in our marketplace channel, and we're still growing. We only have 25% of our available products on Digikey, and we are still expecting 3x growth over the next year. We are adding new products and updating information frequently to continue to increase the exposure Coolgear receives on the platform.”
Has DK provided any international sale opportunities? Or opening up markets/customers that did not exist before?
“Not yet! But I’m sure it will be soon looking forward to that opportunity.”
What was your experience working with the Marketplace team?
“There are always questions or hurdles when signing up with a distributor, but the experience at DigiKey went smoothly, and the team was very helpful, courteous, and willing to help out even our growing business.”
What are the benefits of selling on Marketplace?
“We're increasing our exposure, brand awareness, and product placement in a marketplace that makes it easy for customers to checkout. One of our biggest hurdles of growing internally without DigiKey, is many large companies dread the process of creating an account and approving a new vendor. The fact that so many of these types of companies are already working with DigiKey is a tremendous opportunity for us. ”
What transaction conveniences exist for being a Marketplace supplier?
“Outside of making it easy for clients to buy from us, DigiKey makes it easy for us to vet our clients, ensure fraud protection, and helps us gather feedback from our customers through a third-party platform.”
Coolgear Inc. reports significant growth due to the opportunities that Marketplace has presented to them. 2021 is sure to be an exciting year for Coolgear, and DigiKey is grateful to be a part of the process. Stay tuned for the next supplier success story.

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