commercetools has announced a partnership with French fashion retailer ETAM Group that aims to modernise its digital commerce and accelerate innovation across brands like ETAM, Maison 123 and Undiz.

The tie up follows an eight-week MVP developed by ETAM's Digital Factory in early 2026 to demonstrate the potential of a modern, flexible commerce architecture against its existing environment.

Built on commercetools Sphere, with support from Algolia and Contentstack, the MVP demonstrated a 70–80% increase in development velocity, according to those involved.

"From the outset, our work with commercetools has been about more than replacing technology. We're building a commerce foundation that gives our teams greater speed and our brands more freedom to innovate," says Sébastien Ribeil, Head of Digital Factory at ETAM Group.

"The progress we made together in just eight weeks demonstrated what this approach can unlock, significantly increasing development velocity and giving us a way forward in how we can continue to evolve and grow. Just as importantly, it opens the door to new omnichannel experiences, a strategic priority for ETAM Group in the years ahead."

ETAM is now replacing its legacy commerce platform with commercetools. The API native architecture will integrate with ETAM's existing IT ecosystem while enabling individual capabilities to evolve independently, with the aim of giving its brands greater autonomy while maintaining a shared commerce foundation.

“ETAM approached this transformation in exactly the way we believe modern commerce should be built: prove the value quickly, give the people closest to the business the ability to build, and create an architecture that can keep changing with them,” says Dirk Hoerig, Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at commercetools.

“What we're building together isn't simply a replacement for ETAM's existing platform. It's a foundation that gives its teams and brands the freedom to move faster today, while preparing the business for the much bigger changes AI will bring to commerce.”

The Digital Factory used AI assisted development during the MVP to accelerate delivery with its existing engineering team. ETAM says it will continue to explore how AI can improve engineering productivity and reduce manual development effort, while commercetools Sphere enables the introduction of new AI powered commerce capabilities as they emerge.

Over time, this will support ETAM as it expands into new markets, introduces new capabilities and adapts its commerce strategy as customer expectations and technology continue to evolve.

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

AI will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards, which celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world, have now closed for entries. Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.

Check out our 2026 shortlists and finalists here.

We received a record number of entries this year and many fantastic examples of technology excellence driving transformative change across the global retail sector.

Congratulations to all those who made it through the initial submission process! It’s now over to our star studded judging panel who will decide the winners to be announced at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London. 

The event will be held on Wednesday, 4th November and consist of a drinks reception, three course meal, awards ceremony presided over by award winning stand-up comedian, presenter, actor and broadcaster, Aurie Styla, and after party until 1am.

Click here to book your place at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony on Wednesday, 4th November.