Debenhams has launched a new online marketplace offering 70,000 products in its first major move since being bought by Boohoo in January.
Debenhams, which already has 300 million UK website visits per year, says the new marketplace will soon become the UK’s biggest offering thousands of fashion, beauty, sport and homeware products.
Boohoo today announced the launch of the new marketplace, which is powered by tech provider Mirakl, in a bid to relaunch the collapsed Debenhams brand as a major online player.
It will offer all the brands which both Debenhams and Boohoo currently hold relationships with, alongside another 200 which have been onboarded over the last three months.
“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,” Boohoo’s chief information officer Jo Graham said.
READ MORE: Debenhams and Topshop “always doomed” to fail according to new research
“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.”
According to Boohoo, the acquisition of Debenhams will allow it to capitalise on the accelerating shift to online retail, and the marketplace represents a major strategic growth opportunity to build its presence in the beauty, sport and homeware markets.
Debenhams is currently the number two retailer of skincare products in the UK and has the largest market share in make-up products.
Mirakl, which provides the digital framework for a number of major retailers’ marketplaces including Urban Outfitters and Carrefour, says that marketplaces grew by more than 80 per cent in 2020.
Its cofounder and co-chief executive Adrien Nussenbaum added: “In creating an online marketplace, Debenhams is able to transform the way it reaches and engages with both existing customers and a new customer base of digital native shoppers by providing a one-stop online shop,”
Click here to sign up to Charged‘s free daily email newsletter