Argos has opened a curated marketplace with about 80 sellers, aiming to compete with Amazon and capitalize on surging UK online retail. The move comes as Sainsbury's sells the retailer.
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Argos, one of the United Kingdom's largest omnichannel retailers, has soft-launched a curated marketplace. About 80 selling partners are already live on the platform, according to ChannelX, which reported on the rollout. The marketplace runs on Mirakl's software.
The move comes as Sainsbury's, which still owns Argos, prepares to sell the retailer. Last week, Sainsbury's agreed to sell Argos to the consortium Swift Partners, which aims to revive the brand as an independent company. Sainsbury's announced the marketplace plans in February, when Argos already operated one of the UK's most-visited retail websites, attracting more than one billion visits annually and offering over 60,000 products.
Argos Managing Director Graham Biggart said the marketplace is meant to give customers “more choice, more convenience and more reasons to shop with confidence.” The former catalogue retailer said it sees growing demand for one-stop shopping. “We know customers increasingly want to complete more of their shopping in one place,” Biggart said.
Argos is not opening the marketplace to everyone. The company said it will be “carefully curated” with a focus on quality, product safety and customer confidence. International sellers can apply. During onboarding, Argos asks whether all orders are shipped from a warehouse in the United Kingdom. Local fulfilment is not a formal requirement under the marketplace's terms. The company indicated it may be an important selection criterion.
The launch puts Argos in direct competition with Amazon, pure-play marketplace OnBuy and Chinese newcomer JoyBuy. Argos believes its extensive store network gives it a key differentiator: click-and-collect. The retailer said it can offer a compelling marketplace proposition because of its physical footprint.
UK online retail spending recorded its strongest growth in years in June, and British shoppers increasingly rely on marketplaces, according to industry data. Argos is accepting applications from prospective selling partners and will assess the value they would add to the platform. Biggart said the marketplace reflects Argos's “heritage, scale and values.”
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