French fashion marketplace accelerator The Agent taps Akeneo Supplier Data Manager solution

The Agent reports the adoption of Akeneo’s Supplier Data Manager (SDM) solution, with the aim of streamlining and enhancing the onboarding of its supplier product data.  

The company works with both emerging and established apparel, accessories and footwear brands, including Le Coq Sportif, Herschel Supply Co and Aigle, to grow online sales on third-party marketplaces across Europe and the UK including Zalando, About You, Amazon and Decathlon. It manages the entire marketplace selling process, or a collaborative partnership with tailored services, from catalogue integration to performance optimisation.

The Agent receives product data from hundreds of brands, managing thousands of SKUs each season - often across multiple languages and formats. Prior to implementing Akeneo’s SDM solution, this process was handled using spreadsheets and email and was prone to inaccuracies, often leading to an extended time to market due to the need for multiple manual reviews and checks.

The shift to Akeneo’s solution has allowed it to streamline how product information is collected, cleaned, enriched and shared. Through a structured portal and workflow, brands now upload their product data directly, following clear steps to ensure it meets the specific requirements of each marketplace.

Aude Guillome, Client Success Manager at The Agent, comments:  “Our brands now complete a guided workflow of four steps uploading and enriching product data, before our team takes over to complete the process.  This allows for much faster integration, improved accuracy, and ultimately, better customer experiences.”

“As online marketplaces become more demanding, with some requiring up to 180 unique product attributes for a single SKU, high quality product data is now a critical asset in ensuring sales success. The return on investment of Akeneo’s SDM is clear - better data, faster onboarding, and a 10% reduction in returns.”

Internally, merchandising teams have shifted from labour intensive data input to strategic oversight and performance benchmarking. Supplier data collection is now fully automated, ensuring product is available for sale earlier in the season.

Romaine Fouache, CEO at Akeneo, comments: “With marketplace sales accounting for approximately €225 billion in online sales across Europe in 2023/24, delivering high quality, marketplace compliant product data in a timely manner is critical to ensuring commercial success on these channels. By using SDM, The Agent ensures that its brand partners are marketplace ready with the content necessary to reduce returns and boost visibility.”

2025 RTIH INNOVATION AWARDS

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

The awards, which are now open for entries, 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.