Debenhams has partnered with virtual fitting room and virtual try on platform Retail Social, and will be using the platform firstly in its beauty products, before extending to cover its fashion and clothing brands.
Daniel Finley, CEO of Debenhams, commented: “At Debenhams we are always looking for ways to provide a differentiated and enhanced customer experience, giving users more engaging and personalised ways to consider our range of products and make more informed purchasing decisions.
“We were impressed with the team at be Retail Social – their knowledge of issues and missed opportunities in the sector, and how they have solved these with their platform to benefit both customers and us, our brands.
“It’s quite remarkable what we can now deliver through them as a partner. We love innovation and think the use of moving, personalised human avatars with social influence is a real step forward in the virtual try-on space for beauty and fashion and already seeing tangible benefits.”
In March, Boohoo rebranded as Debenhams Group, claiming that “Debenhams is back”. The former high street department store – one of Britain’s longest lived retailers set up in 1778 in London as a draper’s – collapsed into administration in 2019.
Debenhams has been successfully turned around since it was acquired in 2021, and has been repositioned as Britain’s online department store and is underpinned by a new marketplace led business model. Growing rapidly, the Debenhams business model is stock-lite and capital-lite.
It had reported a 65% year-on-year rise in revenue as it announced a pre-tax profit of £4.5mn in December 2024. This was up from a loss of £723,000 in the prior 12-month period. The full year results also saw EBITDA double to £10.4mn, driven by its marketplace strategy.
Stay informed
Our editor carefully curates two newsletters a week filled with up-to-date news, analysis and research, click here to subscribe to the FREE newsletter sent straight to your inbox and why not follow us on LinkedIn to receive the latest updates on our research and analysis.
