Fashion marketplace accelerator The Agent has adopted Akeneo’s Supplier Data Manager (SDM) system to “streamline and enhance” the uptake of its supplier product data.

Results have already included reducing return rates by 10%, doubling the volume of products onboarded, and accelerating time-to-market by a third, it claims.

The Agent, which works for brands by optimising and scaling their presence on digital marketplaces for both emerging and established apparel, accessories and footwear (including Le Coq Sportif, Herschel Supply Co and Aigle), said the shift to Akeneo’s SDM 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, said: “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.”

 She added: “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.

 Akeneo CEO Romaine Fouache also said: “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.”