Superdrug, the British beauty retailer, has officially launched its first health and beauty marketplace.
The Superdrug Marketplace went live on 17 November in partnership with 300 brands across beauty and wellness.
These include newcomers to Superdrug such as upcycled beauty brand UpCircle and ViDrate hydration drinks.
According to the A.S. Watson-owned retailer, the platform will bring a new range of undiscovered, innovative and affordable products to UK consumers, with a focus on homegrown, female-founded, sustainable and inclusive brands.
"This will provide wider choice across categories for our customers, as well as allow us to introduce them to new products and support entrepreneurial brands," Simon Comins, CCO at Superdrug, told Cosmetics Business.
"It will also enable customers to shop at different price points depending on their needs.
"We are in a fortunate position where we can react quickly to customers’ needs and offer value, quality and accessibility."
The platform is integrated with superdrug.com, which is said to provide customers with a smooth purchase journey.
Third-party marketplace products sit alongside Superdrug products on superdrug.com and can be identified by a marketplace logo and banner.
“Marketplace is the exciting next step in our digital transformation programme,” said Superdrug’s Marketing and eCommerce Director, Matt Walburn.
“Our intention is twofold: to promote diversity by supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses within the industry and to dramatically increase our range on superdrug.com, broadening and strengthening our accessible beauty and health offering to our customers.”
Superdrug Marketplace was developed with SaaS platform Mirakl and the retailer partnered with digital solutions provider KPS to implement the Mirakl marketplace into Superdrug’s existing e-commerce platform.
Superdrug first announced the project in March this year with an eye to bringing innovative and growing brands into the business more quickly.
In July it teased that it had signed more than 200 brands and predicted a September launch date.
Superdrug pipped its UK high street rival Boots to the post in the beauty retailer marketplace race.
Boots announced in September that it too planed to grow its e-commerce offering with Boots Marketplace.
Likewise allowing third-party brands to list their products on boots.com, the platform is predicted to go live in the spring of 2023.