The growing digital marketplace in the UK has just gotten more competitive as retail giant Argos has launched its own digital marketplace. The move not only expands the company’s product range, but also offers a more convenient way for its customers to shop.

Unlike many other marketplaces in the space, Argos won’t operate as an open and unregulated platform where any seller can join. Argos is planning to evaluate both sellers and products to ensure they’re high-quality, safe, and trustworthy. This provides a huge opportunity for sellers that get approved to sell on the platform.

Argos Launches a Digital Marketplace in the UK

One of the largest and most popular retailers in the UK, Argos, has just launched its new marketplace. With the release of this marketplace, Argos plans to better serve online shoppers and give them more choice, more convenience, and more reasons to shop with confidence.

This move also responds to changing customer behavior, as more and more people prefer to shop online and do more of their shopping in one place. The marketplace runs on Mirakl’s software, which is a familiar and popular platform for many brands and retailers throughout the UK.

It officially launched with 80 brands and retailers on the platform, and these selling partners are known as Trusted Sellers. However, more brands will be on the platform in the future, but the way Argos is choosing which ones have access to it is fairly unorthodox.

The Marketplace Uses a Selective Seller Model

Instead of operating an open and unregulated marketplace like many others in the industry do, this new Argos marketplace uses a selective seller model. As a result, not just any seller is able to set up shop and sell on the platform.

Argos will evaluate sellers and their products based on things like quality, safety, and customer trust and decide which are worth potentially adding to the platform. The company is doing this because it wants the marketplace to reflect the company’s heritage, scale, and values, and thus the companies that sell on it should be high-quality.

Companies both in and outside the UK can apply to sell on the Argos marketplace. The application form asks sellers for their business information, contact details, and business activity, such as primary product categories, how much money the company takes in, average delivery times, and more.

After reviewing applications, Argos has said it’ll reach out to sellers that it has confirmed would be a great match for the platform with the next steps to take.

Sellers Maintain Operational Independence

Despite selling through the Argos marketplace, sellers still maintain their own operational independence. Payments from purchases on the Argos marketplace will go to Trusted Sellers, not Argos, and customers need to return products to these sellers, not Argos. However, there’s a chance this returns process may change in the future.

Sellers also handle their own shipping, and all support for buyers will come from individual sellers, not from Argos itself.

However, while sellers largely remain independent on this platform, shoppers buying on the platform will still earn Nectar points just like they would when making a regular Argos order. This could end up being a huge benefit for sellers on the platform, as it could encourage repeat orders and incentivize people to shop on this marketplace instead of another.

Argos Joins a Competitive Digital Marketplace Landscape

The move also means that Argos joins a very competitive digital marketplace landscape in the UK. With the major growth of ecommerce in the region, several companies are looking to establish dominance in the UK.

While Amazon, the largest and most-visited ecommerce platform, is at the top, others are staking their claim, such as one of the largest Chinese ecommerce brands, JD.com, which recently entered the UK market with its platform called JoyBuy. Other ecommerce competitors in the space include OnBuy, eBay, Etsy, Zalando, and many others.

It remains to be seen if Argos can compete with some of these more-established marketplaces, but it brings massive website traffic, trusted brand equity, and a popular loyalty program, so it certainly has a chance.

Our Take

Landing on the Platform is a Huge Opportunity for Marketplace Sellers

While it’s not going to be easy to be approved to sell on the Argos marketplace, any brand that manages to do it gets a huge opportunity. Being on the marketplace gives you access to a massive audience of people who already shop with Argos, and your brand will get built-in credibility as customers know that not just any sellers are accepted on the platform.

There will also be much less competition on the platform than on many others, as not just any seller can join. This is especially true for early applicants who are able to start selling on the platform before it fills up with other sellers. The integration with the Nectar loyalty program also helps with repeat engagement over time.

While there’s no surefire way to ensure your brand’s application is successful, take time to fill out the form accurately, ensure you have UK delivery figured out so you can demonstrate you can fulfill orders quickly, and demonstrate your reliability, brand reputation, and the safety of your products.