Mirakl and the boohoo group have announced the launch of the Debenhams online marketplace. The marketplace allows Debenhams, leading UK fashion and beauty retailer, to evolve into a new era of digital commerce and respond to changing customer demand by rapidly growing its product offering while staying true to the Debenhams brand.
Debenhams already has 300 million UK website visits per year, is positioned as the number two retailer of skincare products in the UK and has the largest market share in make-up products. With the launch of the marketplace, Debenhams will build on this strong online presence to cater to the new and ever-growing demands of today’s consumer, who looks to find everything they need via a one-stop online shop.
Through the Debenhams marketplace, the ambition is to create the UK’s largest marketplace across fashion, beauty, sport and homeware. By leveraging the Mirakl Marketplace Platform, Debenhams can quickly onboard new brands, as well as maintain and extend both existing boohoo and Debenhams brand relationships. Mirakl’s marketplace expertise and leading 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, and new suppliers and brands are joining weekly.
Jo Graham, Chief Information Officer, boohoo group, commented, “With the launch of this marketplace, 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 marketplace momentum in the UK, with more B2C and B2B organisations tapping into the huge potential of the model, including Decathlon UK, Feelunique, Harvey Nichols, H&M Home, Joules, and Turner Price. Underlining this increase in the adoption of the marketplace model, the 2021 Enterprise Marketplace Index shows that marketplaces grew by more than 80 per cent year-over-year in 2020, more than double the rate of overall eCommerce growth.
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 and help them thrive in the new era of eCommerce.
The acquisition is an important development for the boohoo group, as it seeks 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, not just in fashion eCommerce, but in new categories including beauty, sport and homeware.
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