Mirakl Powers Best Buy and Ulta Marketplaces

This marked a shift from retailing inventory to renting out shelf space online. For Best Buy and Ulta, a marketplace lets them add brands and categories without buying stock first, then collect commissions and seller ads on each sale. That is the same profit engine that made Amazon’s third party business larger than its own first party retail operation, and it is why Mirakl became the software layer these retailers used to launch fast.

• Best Buy signaled the broadest version of this play. It said in January 2025 that its marketplace would add more brands and products through third party sellers, then launched in August 2025 with more than double the products online and new categories beyond core electronics, powered by Mirakl.
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• Ulta used the same model in a tighter, more curated way. UB Marketplace launched in October 2025 with about 100 new brands inside Ulta’s existing site and app, with unified search, cart, checkout, rewards, and returns, so Ulta could test adjacent beauty and wellness categories without changing its core store model.
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• The money model is what matters. Amazon’s third party sales were estimated at $360B annually and about 60% of retail sales, while Mirakl typically monetizes client GMV through a yearly software fee plus a variable share of marketplace volume, and then layers on ads, retail’s highest margin revenue stream.
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The next step is deeper monetization, not just more assortment. Once retailers have enough sellers and traffic, the marketplace becomes a place to sell sponsored placement, seller tools, and fulfillment services. That pushes Best Buy and Ulta toward Amazon and Walmart’s model, where the real upside comes from fees and ads attached to someone else’s inventory.