Marketplacer loses Tesco but gains Rackhams as a customer as revived department store goes digital

Recently relaunched online department store, Rackhams, has announced a new three-year partnership with Marketplacer following a first year that has seen the company onboard more than 600 sellers and list over 200,000 products on its offering.

Rackhams was originally founded in 1881 by John Rackham and William Matthews. In the 1950s, it was owned by Harrods and then House of Fraser, and during the 1970s, the name was used for stores across the Midlands and Northern England. It closed in 2000 and relaunched in 2023 as an online marketplace.

“Marketplacer has been instrumental in helping us scale quickly,” says Mark Jordan, CEO at Rackhams.

“Seller data comes in all shapes and sizes, so forcing sellers into a strict one size fits all structure will never lead to success. That’s why we’ve maintained a flexible, hands on approach - shaping data to deliver a consistent customer experience while helping partners showcase their products in the best possible way.”

“If you can remove pain points for your partners, you gain far more traction. We know sellers value being able to speak to real people. That’s not just good service - it builds lasting relationships, which are key to the success of any marketplace as our sellers and their products are the lifeblood of Rackhams.”

Marketplacer supports direct integrations with e-commerce platforms such as Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce. Sellers can import their entire product catalogue in minutes, with automated syncing of inventory, pricing and orders.

For larger or more complex operations, Rackhams also supports channel management systems including Linnworks and Scalably, as well as bulk upload option.

It has also invested in additional infrastructure around the Marketplacer platform to improve speed, reliability and seller experience,  including faster payouts, improved integrations and enhanced data flow management.

“We’ve listened closely to seller feedback,” says Jordan. “By building complementary services around Marketplacer, we’re ensuring the experience remains best-in-class - not just for sellers, but for the customers who buy from them.”

Tesco

Last year, we reported that Marketplacer had partnered with Tesco to launch its new online marketplace.

Peter Filcek, Marketplace Director at Tesco, said at the time: “We knew that we wanted to open up access to a wider range of products for Tesco customers; we could see customers were searching for products that we didn't sell, and that we could be front of mind for.”

“It became clear that exploring this advanced technology for industry partnerships would be advantageous for the customer experience and ensure a seamless integration experience for our seller partners.”

“In a dynamic shift change, this marketplace model allows us to take a more holistic approach to customers’ household needs and give us a competitive edge.”

“We’ve benefitted from the Marketplacer team’s deep e-commerce expertise and understanding of our business in navigating some common scaling challenges to stay on the right track”

“Our secure and scalable marketplace proposition now looks set to attract additional sellers, therefore streamlining that onboarding process is critical for us to grow and scale.” 

Just 15 months later, however, Tesco is ditching Marketplacer and switching to Mirakl (which works with the likes of B&Q and Superdrug).

The new partnership is set to launch in the next few weeks.

A Tesco spokesperson said: "To support our long-term growth plans for Marketplace, we're migrating to a new platform that will enhance the seller experience and provide an event better experience for our customers."

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

Online retail will be a key focus area at the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards. which are now closed for entries with our finalists and shortlists being announced last week, celebrate global tech innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our 2024 hall of fame entrants were revealed during an event which took place at RIBA’s 66 Portland Place HQ in Central London on 21st November, and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by comedian Lucy Porter

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “The event is now into its sixth year and what a journey it has been. The awards started life as an online only affair during the Covid outbreak, before launching as a small scale in real life event and growing year on year to the point where we’re now selling out this fine, historic venue.”

He added: “Congratulations to all of our finalists. Many submissions did not make it through to the final stage, and getting to this point is no mean feat. Checkout-free stores, automated supply chains, immersive experiences, on-demand delivery, next generation loyalty offerings, inclusive retail, green technology. We’ve got all the cool stuff covered this evening.”

“But just importantly we’ve got lots of great examples of companies taking innovative tech and making it usable in everyday operations - resulting in more efficiency and profitability in all areas.”

Congratulations to our 2024 winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Lucy Porter, and all those who attended November's gathering. 

For further information on the 2025 RTIH Innovation Awards, please fill in the below form and we will get back to you asap.