You are in:Home » Marketplaces » Boohoo relaunches Debenhams as a marketplace, sets sights on growing its customer base across fashion, beauty and homewares
Department store Debenhams has been relaunched by new owners boohoo Group as an online fashion, beauty, sports and homewares marketplace.
Through the Debenhams marketplace, the boohoo hopes to create theUK’s largest marketplace across fashion, beauty, sport and homeware. Using the Mirakl Marketplace Platform – which specialises in creating retailer-run marketplaces – Debenhams hope that it can quickly onboard new brands, as well as maintain and extend both existing boohoo and Debenhams brand relationships.
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 is also hoped that 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.
Debenhams, which went under in December 2020 and was bought by boohoo Group in early 2021 as a online-only proposition, already sees some 300 million UK hits annually and is the UK’s number two retailer of skincare products. With the launch of the marketplace, Debenhams is hoping to 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.
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, explains:“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’s platform already underpins a raft of retaliler-run marketplaces, including Decathlon UK, Feelunique, Harvey Nichols, H&M Home, Joules and Turner Price. Underlining this increase in the adoption of the marketplace model, the 2021Enterprise Marketplace Indexshows that marketplaces grew by more than 80% year-over-year in 2020, 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 both existing customers and a new customer base of digital native shoppers by providing a one-stop online shop,”says Adrien Nussenbaum, Co-CEO and Co-Founder, Mirakl.“In order to thrive, 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 to enable UK retailers to meet changing customer demand and lead in this new digital age.”
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FAQs
Back in January 2021, Boohoo bought Debenhams out of administration in a £55m deal and resurrected the 242-year-old department store as an online-only brand. Lyttle says it is “very happy” with Debenhams' performance “from an investment point of view” as it is already profitable.
What is the growth strategy of boohoo? ›
Boohoo group is concentrated on driving sustainable, profitable growth with technology and automation increasing efficiency across the business.
What is Debenhams marketplace? ›
by Paul Skeldon. Department store Debenhams has been relaunched by new owners boohoo Group as an online fashion, beauty, sports and homewares marketplace. Through the Debenhams marketplace, the boohoo hopes to create the UK's largest marketplace across fashion, beauty, sport and homeware.
What is Debenhams called now? ›
Boohoo purchased the name and associated website operations from the administrators of Debenhams for £55 million in January 2021. On 12 April 2021, Boohoo relaunched the Debenhams website with a new full range of products and brands, mostly brands owned by Boohoo.
Why is Boohoo struggling? ›
Boohoo has cut more than 1,000 jobs and dived into debt after its losses soared and sales slumped 13% amid heavy competition from the Chinese online seller Shein and the revival of the high street after the pandemic lockdowns.
What is the purpose of Boohoo? ›
a fashion brand for a social generation
We're on mission to become the global leader in the fashion e-commerce sector and we're passionate about doing this in a way that respects our people, our customers, our suppliers, our stakeholders, investors and the world around us.
Why is Boohoo so successful? ›
Boohoo's success is attributed to their ability to offer cheap and trendy clothes, although the company has faced criticism for selling £5 dresses. Here are the reasons why Boohoo is a successful company. The decline of the British high street is a complex issue that has been ongoing for several years.
What is Boohoo's competitive advantage? ›
What will drive our profitable growth? A portfolio of 5 core brands and 8 labels enables the group to address a diverse global customer base. The diversity of our brands reduces risk and gives the group a competitive advantage.
What is the unique selling point of Boohoo? ›
They have a USP
Unlike many other online retailers, boohoo have a USP. Rather than just showing you images of their products, they play you a video of a model actually wearing the item so you can get a good idea of what the item looks like when worn.
What was Debenhams strategy? ›
Debenhams follows a strategy of local adaptation in its marketing mix so its stores are designed and products are stocked according to the local preferences and cultural requirements. However, a considerable effort is made to ensure that these stores immediately reflect Debenhams brand.
Welcome to Debenhams, your digital destination for Fashion, Beauty and Home. Consider this your one-stop-shop for all of life's essentials, from kitchen staples to new season looks, and cult beauty names, find everything under one roof.
Who is Debenhams target market? ›
“Debenhams has strong brand equity particularly among the over 55s age group, scoring highly in customer satisfaction and quality perception,” she explains. “While Boohoo has a strong draw with younger age groups, the brand is yet to find a footing among older consumers.
Is Debenhams Boohoo? ›
When fast fashion chain Boohoo acquired Debenhams in 2021 there was little inclination to restore the department store to its former glory. Instead Boohoo bought its brand equity, the Debenhams website and customer base, for 50 million pounds.
Is Debenhams fast fashion? ›
The Debenhams brand and website were snapped up by Boohoo for £55million back in January 2021, the fast fashion giant then relaunched the website as Debenhams.com in April that year.
What happened to Debenhams? ›
The company entered administration in April 2019 and again the following year, and was finally bought by online retailer Boohoo in January 2021 for £55 million, closing all of the high street stores.
What is the Boohoo pay scandal? ›
Almost simultaneous to Labour Behind the Label's report, The Sunday Times also revealed the findings of its own investigation in which it uncovered evidence that factory workers at Boohoo's Leicester location were paid less than half the national working wage, receiving just 3.50 pounds an hour.
What are the allegations against Boohoo? ›
UK-based fashion retail group Boohoo has been accused of making 'surface deep' changes in response a BBC Panorama documentary alleging poor purchasing practices and concern over worker conditions in its supply chain. A report from the University of Bath, titled 'What happened after the Boohoo scandal?
What is the Boohoo label scandal? ›
The incident occurred at Boohoo's Leicester factory, opened to promote end-to-end garment production in the UK, and resulted in labels on certain items being removed and replaced with new labels incorrectly stating that the products were made in the UK.
What is the Boohoo sustainability scandal? ›
Fast-fashion firm Boohoo has broken promises to make its clothes fairly and ethically, a BBC Panorama investigation has found. An undercover reporter at the company's Manchester HQ saw evidence of staff pressuring suppliers to drive prices down, even after deals had been agreed.
