A little less than year after first announcing its plans, Macy’s has joined the ranks of other major retailers such as Walmart and Target with the debut of its own third-party marketplace. The platform, which is integrated into the existing Macy’s website and app, brings an expanded assortment of 400 new brands across 20 product categories at launch.
The marketplace, powered by Mirakl, is key piece of Macy’s turnaround strategy aimed at transforming the department store into a digitally led, omnichannel retailer.
“After a year of intense work creating an exceptional experience for customers and sellers, we are thrilled to launch a curated marketplace on Macys.com, expanding our digital assortment to new categories, brands and products that our customers will love,” said Matt Baer, Chief Digital and Customer Officer at Macy’s in a statement. “Seamlessly integrated into Macy’s digital shopping experience, marketplace gives our customers access to an array of expertly curated products — from apparel and beauty to home improvement, toys, pet products and more.”
The retailer promises that “customers shopping online and through Macy’s mobile app should feel minimal differences in their overall experience,” with the only difference on marketplace listings being a badge indicating the product will be shipped by a third-party seller. Marketplace products will feature the same Star Rewards loyalty benefits and returns processes as first-party items.
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Macy’s said that the third-party sellers and brands it partners with “will be carefully chosen to ensure alignment with business needs and Macy’s high-quality product and fulfillment standards.” Macy’s also plans to use its marketplace to further its sustainability and diversity initiatives by partnering with sellers that will increase its penetration of women-owned, diverse-owned and sustainable options for consumers. At launch, 20% percent of marketplace sellers and brands are from underrepresented enterprises.
“Our marketplace complements our existing omnichannel strategy and is another platform we will use to find the most efficient distribution strategy for our partners,” said Josh Janos, VP of Marketplace at Macy’s in a statement. “Not only will we continue to maximize brands and existing assortments, but we will use the marketplace to test and customize our assortments based on customer demand.”
