Bluefly, an e-Commerce fashion retailer with more than 2,500 available brands, has partnered with prescriptive analytics platform DynamicAction to further its transition into a pure-play marketplace.
DynamicAction will analyze data from across Bluefly’s organization and prescribe business actions across merchandising, e-Commerce, marketing and operations designed to:
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Improve Bluefly’s business performance;
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Rank actions by business impact; and
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Act as collaboration software to enable rapid, profitable action.
“As we continue to aggressively optimize our marketplace business model, we needed action-oriented technology that provides business-building solutions,” said Carly Rosenberg, General Manager and Chief Marketing Officer at Bluefly. “So often, the most challenging aspect of retail success is grasping what happened in the business today, yesterday or last week and understanding exactly why it happened, while simultaneously offering immediate actions to improve performance and customer experience. This is precisely what DynamicAction will offer our team.”
The company’s decision to onboard DynamicAction for marketplace assistance comes as many retailers continue to test out the marketplace model as a way to provide a unique venue for consumers. With as many as 64% of shoppers starting their journey at an online marketplace, the option appears to be enticing for retailers that also want additional exposure to new consumers.
With the marketplace option, retailers such as Bluefly can also have greater leeway to partner with more designers and brands, extending the potential consumer reach for all parties involved.
Building out a marketplace is an ambitious effort for Bluefly, which over the past year has expanded its offerings to beauty, home and children’s categories. For many retailers, such an expansion might be considered too ambitious to achieve over that time period. Bluefly, however, is financially backed by investment firm Clearlake Capital, making its organizational changes less risky.
Independent merchants seeking to expand, especially if they are trying to compete with the major players of the marketplace space, will likely have to tread with more caution and at a slower pace if they want to achieve success with this model.
