Ansbach, 28th of May 2019: engelhorn, the Mannheim-based fashion and sports department store, is laying foundations for the future with its platform strategy. Products available in traditional bricks-and-mortar stores are now complemented by digitally connected product ranges from brands in the sports, fashion and premium sectors. All this enables what is becoming more and more important for customers: bigger selection and higher availability – comfortably under the roof of the successful online shop engelhorn.com. engelhorn relies on the marketplace solution »TB.Market« by Tradebyte for the implementation of this strategy. As a pilot partner, engelhorn is starting with the Swiss outdoor brand Mammut.

engelhorn has been in business for more than 125 years and has developed collaboration with a great number of suppliers and brands. Now, the online shop has been transformed into a platform with the help of TB.Market. Through this, engelhorn gains access to more than 650 brands and retailers from the Tradebyte ecosystem. A win-win situation: What helps engelhorn to be even more successful with a wider product range, also enables existing brands in the Tradebyte pool to place their products under a well-known roof and profit from additional reach. This longtail effect sharpens the profile of the traditional brand as a first point of call for the customer in online commerce. The pilot partner for the new platform is Mammut. A perfect match: the Swiss brand has the right size of product range, engelhorn and Mammut have collaborated successfully for years and Mammut is part of the Tradebyte pool. If a partner already has an interface to TB.One, that makes it a lot easier when it comes to connecting to a TB.Market channel.

Dr. Oliver Pabst, CEO Mammut Sports Group AG: »Digitalisation plays a central role for Mammut. The opportunities of digital transformation are available to the entire outdoor industry. Mammut wants to take this path together with partners. Therefore, we’re very proud to be able to accompany our valued partner, engelhorn, as a pioneer in this project and to strengthen the customer obsession together. We are convinced that the creation of an ecosystem stimulates the digital development of the outdoor industry.«

TB.Market as an enabler for the platform business

Via TB.Market, all the partner data are transmitted to engelhorn, then checked and finally listed in the engelhorn online shop under the name of the partners as suppliers. Tradebyte has both strategically and technically supported engelhorn in the transformation from online shop to platform. Apart from consulting about strategic and technical issues and the alignment of the setup, the technical project management, including content requirements and order management, was also completed by Tradebyte.

Matthias Schulte, Tradebyte Software GmbH CEO: »We are very happy about engelhorn as a platform in our channel portfolio, as engelhorn is not just known for its high competence in the sports and fashion sectors, but is also the ideal platform for brands and retailers from the premium and luxury segment.«

Platform strategy is paving the way for expansion

The company is planning the connection of other retailers and brands from the fashion and sports sectors as well as from the premium segment in the near future. Mid-term, the Mannheim-based company aims to internationalise into other European countries. The first step, however, is the development of its own partner and HR structure as well as the optimisation of all platform processes.

Fabian Engelhorn, engelhorn Group CEO: »In order to remain future-oriented in the course of growing digitalisation and transformation in the retail sector, we have decided to extend engelhorn.de into a platform. Through our competent and experienced partner suppliers, we would like to extend our product range and therefore strengthen and further establish the engelhorn brand. Tradebyte is a partner with extensive expertise as an integrator and hub for digital content. That’s why we decided on Tradebyte. Mammut Sports Group has been successful for more than 150 years with its high-quality and innovative products even in the performance sector. This means a perfect extension of the product range for engelhorn. As a long-term engelhorn partner, we don’t just value the innovative spirit of the products, but also new ways of approaching customers together. That’s why we’re very happy to start this project with Mammut as the pilot partner.«