Mirakl and the boohoo group, leading online fashion retailer have launched the Debenhams online marketplace. Mirakl is one of the industry’s first enterprise marketplace SaaS platform. The marketplace allows Debenhams, leading UK fashion and beauty retailer, to evolve into a new era of digital commerce. The company plans to respond to changing customer demand by rapidly growing its product offering utilising the Debenhams brand.
Through the Debenhams marketplace, the ambition is to create the UK’s largest marketplace across fashion, beauty, sports and homeware. By leveraging the Mirakl Marketplace Platform, Debenhams can onboard new brands, maintain and extend both boohoo and Debenhams brand relationships. Mirakl’s marketplace expertise and technology enabled the launch of the Debenhams marketplace in only 3 months. Debenhams has also already made around 200 new brands available through the new marketplace. The company says new suppliers and brands are joining weekly.
Driving UK marketplace momentum
Jo Graham, Chief Information Officer, boohoo group suggests, “We are evolving the Debenhams brand to stay ahead of the demands of the current digital-first world of commerce. Our partnership with Mirakl is critical to this evolution. With its unmatched technology, expertise, and seller ecosystem, Mirakl is supporting us to drive forward Debenhams’ digital transformation. While ensuring we maintain the iconic brand that customers have come to love since its creation over 240 years ago.”
Mirakl continues to drive UK marketplace momentum with more B2C and B2B organisations embracing the potential of the model. Companies such as Decathlon UK, Feelunique, Harvey Nichols, H&M Home, Joules, and Turner Price. Underlining the adoption of the marketplace model, the 2021 Enterprise Marketplace Index shows that marketplaces grew 80+% year-over-year in 2020. This was more than double the rate of overall eCommerce growth.
“In creating an online marketplace, Debenhams is able to transform the way it reaches and engages with customers. Both existing customers and a new customer base of digital native shoppers by providing a one-stop online shop,” said Adrien Nussenbaum, Co-CEO and Co-Founder, Mirakl. “Businesses need to invest in their online platforms to help better navigate the new world of retail and remain resilient. This partnership with Debenhams is further validation of the capacity of our market-leading solution. It will enable UK retailers to meet changing customer demand and lead in this new digital age.”
Leveraging Debenham’s brand
The launch of the marketplace follows the acquisition of Debenhams by the boohoo group in January of this year. The boohoo group has a strong track record of using its expertise in online sales strategies to revitalize heritage brands.
The acquisition is an important development for the boohoo group. The company plans to capture incremental growth opportunities arising from the accelerating shift to online retail. The marketplace represents a strategic opportunity to transform the boohoo group’s target addressable market. Through the creation of an online marketplace that leverages Debenhams’ high brand awareness and existing traffic. It will accelerate the boohoo group’s ambition to be a leader in fashion eCommerce, beauty, sports and homeware.
Enterprise Times: What this means for business?
Debenhams already has 300 million UK website visits per year. The company is positioned as the number two retailer of skincare products in the UK. It also has the largest market share in make-up products. The new marketplace enables Debenhams to meet evolving customer demand, rapidly scaling assortment to 70,000 new products in 3 months. The launch of the marketplace should further enable Debenhams to build on this strong online presence.
Research has indicated that today’s consumer is increasingly looking to find their needs via a one-stop online shop. The adoption of marketplace platforms has been rapid over the last few years. The acceleration of eCommerce in the last year has permanently changed the needs of enterprises. There are increased expectations from B2C and B2B customers. Marketplace platforms have benefited from the shift as enterprise marketplaces. Mirakl been smart enough to work with leading brands across B2C and B2B, to identify the changes needed. The company achieved record 110% year-over-year growth in gross merchandise value in 2020. With $3.1B transacted on Mirakl-powered Marketplaces last year, demonstrated the ability of enterprises to effectively utilise the platform opportunity.
