Crystal balls not
needed

How to compete in an age when iconic retail brands have continued to evolve and push forward the digital brand marketplace experience for customers—at breakneck speeds? And in the process provide a digital experience that meets multiple shopping needs? And support purpose-driven goals like featuring minority- and women-owned businesses?

This was the challenge faced by Macy’s, Inc. as it aimed to continue boosting its e-commerce capabilities. It needed a faster and more flexible way to add new products and categories to its website and capture trends without the lengthy process of sourcing, purchasing, stocking, and delivering.

The solution? With help from Deloitte Digital, Macy’s launched a new third-party marketplace on macys.com, creating a one-stop shopping experience for customers.

As one Macy’s IT executive put it, “The marketplace allows us to move into new and adjacent categories more quickly—without any risk from an inventory perspective—to test customer demand and continue to meet customer expectations. “It enables us to create more-profitable customer relationships and to add styles and trends as they emerge.”

In creating its third-party seller online platform, Macy’s joins a growing number of retailers doing the same.

“We spent time talking to a lot of other retailers who had launched a marketplace before,” notes another executive. “We listened to their lessons learned so we could get ours off the ground quickly and smoothly.”