Boots is set to launch an online marketplace that will enable third-party brands to sell on its website.
From spring 2023, third-party brands will be able to access the health & beauty retailer’s one million monthly visitors at Boots.com, subject to invitation following a review of products.
Powered by online marketplace software business Mirakl, it will let customers pay for the new brands along with the rest of their Boots shopping while taking advantage of any existing benefits such as Boots Advantage Card points.
It will give customers access to hundreds of new brands across established names and new sellers, while also allowing the brands to benefit from the reputation of a trusted retailer, according to Boots.
The retailer said it was part of an ongoing strategy to rapidly extend the online range and explore new categories.
It would help it work with “smaller and entrepreneurial brands”, said Boots chief digital officer Paula Bobbett.
“Marketplace will allow us to build on the strength of our existing business to offer an even bigger range of choice for consumers and be the first to market with emerging brands and new products,” said Bobbett.
Boots Health Hub
It follows the introduction last year of Boots Health Hub, a healthcare marketplace on Boots.com connecting customers to doctors, therapists and dermatologists.
French company Mirakl, which works with the likes of Carrefour and Kroger, is also behind Superdrug’s planned online marketplace, announced by the retailer earlier this year. Mirakl revealed plans to invest £23.5m in the UK over two years in November 2020. The software business is also behind a third-party marketplace launched by foodservice wholesaler Turner Price in May last year..
Sophie Marchessou, Mirakl executive vice president, customer success, said: “Boots is a heritage brand loved and trusted by British consumers, and in launching its new marketplace it is delivering on its promise to deliver customers more of the products they want, from a carefully curated selection of third-party suppliers that meet the company’s extremely high-quality standards.
“As Mirakl continues to power the marketplaces of some of the UK’s biggest brands, we are delighted to be working with Boots, a champion of British retail.”
Brands can register their interest at Boots-uk.com/suppliers.
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