Macy’s Continues In-Store Innovation Using b8ta to Enhance and Scale The Market @ Macy’s Experiential Retail Concept
June 12 2018 - 4:30PM
Business Wire
Macy’s acquires a minority equity stake in
b8ta
Macy’s (NYSE:M) today announced an evolution of its commercial
partnership with technology powered retailer b8ta. As part of its
strategic focus on enhancing the in-store customer experience, the
company will leverage b8ta’s best-in-class software platform to
scale The Market @ Macy’s, becoming strategic partners in this
‘retail-as-a-service’ model. The Market @ Macy’s is the company’s
experiential retail concept launched earlier this year. Macy’s has
also acquired a minority equity stake in b8ta.
“Macy’s is in the experience business. We’re always looking for
new formats that allow our customers to discover and connect with
our products and services in-store in a way that drives engagement
with our brand,” said Hal Lawton, president of Macy’s. “We’re
pleased to deepen our partnership with b8ta that will provide the
technology engine for The Market @ Macy’s. This will allow us to
scale The Market @ Macy’s concept faster, furthering our goal of
bringing more excitement and fresh experiences into our
stores.”
"At b8ta, we believe physical retail will thrive as a platform
for discovering new products and brands. Macy’s was the best
partner for b8ta to scale our pioneering retail-as-a-service model
to a breadth of categories like apparel, beauty, home, and more.
With b8ta’s software platform and business model, product makers
can go from solely selling online to launching their products with
Macy’s in a few clicks. Our platform makes it easy for makers to
deploy, manage, analyze, and scale amazing offline retail
experiences,” said Vibhu Norby, CEO of b8ta.
Launched in February 2018, The Market @ Macy’s, currently open
at 10 Macy’s locations nationwide, helps emerging and established
brands reach new audiences. Each shop brings customers a rotating
selection of unique offerings in apparel, accessories, beauty,
entertainment, experiences, decorative home, stationary,
technology, and gifts.
b8ta will customize its technology platform for Macy’s,
providing brands a seamless and more automated experience when
signing up to participate in The Market @ Macy’s. The customized
software platform will serve as the driver for managing the
rotating brands and experiences and scaling The Market @ Macy’s
concept to new locations. In addition, b8ta’s ability to attract
new products in the home and consumer electronics space will
provide a big opportunity for bringing exciting new product
categories to select Macy’s stores.
Over the next year, The Market @ Macy’s will test new size
format spaces powered by b8ta’s technology and will expand the size
of some of the existing pilot locations. Plans for future growth of
the concept powered by b8ta are underway.
The partnership with b8ta along with the recent acquisition of
STORY, is the latest example of Macy’s strategy to evolve its
stores with more experience-based concepts and create a portfolio
of unique relationships that will drive customer engagement across
its store base.
About Macy's
Macy's, the largest retail brand of Macy's, Inc., delivers
fashion and affordable luxury to customers at approximately 650
locations in 44 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and
Guam, as well as to customers in the U.S. and more than 100
international destinations through its leading online store at
macys.com. Via its stores, e-commerce site, mobile and social
platforms, Macy's offers distinctive assortments including the most
desired family of exclusive and fashion brands for him, her and
home. Macy's is known for such epic events as Macy's 4th of July
Fireworks® and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade®, as well as
spectacular fashion shows, culinary events, flower shows and
celebrity appearances. Macy's flagship stores -- including Herald
Square in New York City, Union Square in San Francisco, State
Street in Chicago, Dadeland in Miami and South Coast Plaza in
southern California -- are known internationally and are leading
destinations for visitors. Building on a more than 150-year
tradition, and with the collective support of customers and
employees, Macy's helps strengthen communities by supporting local
and national charities giving more than $52 million each year, plus
153,000 hours of volunteer service, to help make a difference in
the lives of our customers.
For Macy's media materials, including images and contacts,
please visit our online pressroom at macys.com/pressroom.
About b8ta
Founded in 2015 by Vibhu Norby (CEO), Phillip Raub (President)
and William Mintun (COO), b8ta is a software-powered retailer
designed to improve the customer and maker experience. b8ta
operates flagships stores throughout the US -- including San
Francisco, New York and Santa Monica with the mission of helping
customers discover, try, buy and learn about new products while
empowering makers with a simple retail-as-a-service model that puts
them in control. Earlier this year, b8ta launched Built by b8ta, a
service model which further expands upon retail-as-a-service, by
helping to build and operate flagship stores for emerging
brands.
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Macy’sOrlando Veras, 646-429-7450orlando.veras@macys.comorBlair
Rosenberg, 646-429-6032media@macys.com
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