Macy’s Inc. announced Sept. 28 that it officially launched its marketplace. The retail chain announced in November 2021 that it would launch one, and it has been working on it since then.

The marketplace will bolster Macys.com’s assortment, as it is adding 400 brands across 20 product categories. Those include apparel, beauty, home improvement, toys and pet products.

On each product detail page for a marketplace product, Macy’s notes the product will ship from a third-party seller. Shoppers should feel “minimal difference” in the overall shopping experience, the retailer says.

Macys.com notes a product is sold by a marketplace merchant with the “shipped and sold by” text at the top of the product detail page, beneath the product name.

Macy’s says marketplaces sales will still count toward the Macy’s loyalty program, however there are some restrictions when using loyalty points for marketplace purchases, a Macy’s spokesperson says without providing more details.

Returns, however, operate differently. Shoppers can’t return items to a Macy’s store and have to return products to a seller within 30 days, according to Macys.com’s FAQ page. This is a deviation from the merchant’s typical 90-day return policy to stores or by mail.

“Customers are encouraged to ship returns directly back via UPS, but our stores are available to assist our customers if needed,” the spokesperson says.

Macy’s is No. 16 in the 2022 Digital Commerce 360 Top 1000.

Macy’s joins a growing number of retailers launching marketplaces

Retail chains launching a third-party marketplace is a recent trend. For example, Target Corp. (No. 5 in the Top 1000) launched its marketplace in 2019.

In 2016, only five retailers within Digital Commerce 360’s Top 1000 operated a marketplace on their ecommerce site. That number grew to 18 merchants in the Top 1000 in 2020, and to date, 34 retailers in Digital Commerce 360’s Top 500 operate a marketplace. This number is likely to be even higher for the entire Top 1000, but Digital Commerce 360 Research has yet to release these figures.

Of the 34 merchants with a marketplace, 11 are apparel retailers and seven are mass merchants.

When Macy’s announced the launch in 2021, it said the new business model would be a way to expand its assortment for a “low incremental cost,” while helping the chain gain incremental revenue.

“Our digital business is targeted to generate $10 billion in sales by 2023,” said Matt Baer, chief digital and customer officer, in the 2021 press release announcing the marketplace. “And we expect the new marketplace platform to produce incremental revenue on top of that target.”

Macy’s selected marketplace software provider Mirakl to build its marketplace. Macy’s declined to reveal the cost of building the marketplace.

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