The technology services division of Manchester-based The Hut Group has signed £100m of major partnerships agreements with a host of global brands.
Through these partnerships, the division – known as THG Ingenuity – will accelerate each brand’s transition towards a direct-to-consumer (DTC) model to meet the growing online consumer demand.
Each brand will access THG Ingenuity’s full range of ecommerce solutions, from its end-to-end, proprietary DTC technology platform to its international fulfilment and payments infrastructure complemented by further global solutions across hosting, translations, brand development and creative content.
Brands include Elemis, which THG will launch through localised DTC offerings across 15 territories in Europe and Asia over the next 12 months.
With PZ Cussons Beauty, the partnership will see THG Ingenuity facilitate its shift to DTC ecommerce with the launch of three of their consumer brands, St Tropez, Sanctuary Spa and Fudge professional, in under six weeks.
THG will initiate the European site roll-out for Burt’s Bees, the natural skincare brand, which commenced with the UK site launch in May 2020.
British beauty brand Revolution Beauty will be supported in initially delivering a DTC online business for the US and Australia in 2020.
French firm By Terry will get a brand launch across all end-to-end services, including brand development and strategy, content and packaging, DTC and managed services in trade and performance marketing.
Exact details on each brands deal was not disclosed.
Matthew Moulding, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of THG, said the consumer shift to online continues “at pace”.
“Resilient, world class, DTC operation has become a necessity for brands to generate sustainable long-term growth.
“Through THG Ingenuity’s proprietary technology, brands can leverage our end-to-end capabilities to launch, market and fulfil their product offering at pace and accelerate their international expansion.
“The latest partnership agreements with some of the leading international beauty brands are a testament to the strength of THG Ingenuity’s proven technology services.”
THG said it now has a pipeline of new tech under development, including a patent for its own foundation finder technology, which promises to enable customers to colour match at home using THG’s own colour card, machine learning and computer vision technology.