Advertising and marketing giant WPP has launched an “end-to-end e-commerce service” aimed at fmcg brands.
The fully managed service – called Everymile – would “look after the entire process” of a brand’s outsourced direct-to-consumer offering, the company said. The service handles the customer’s visit to a brand website, “having first helped the target audience to find that website”, through to the delivery of their purchase.
Everymile would be offered on a “transparent revenue share commercial model” WPP said.
Everymile’s launch establishes WPP as a direct competitor to THG, the technology division of which, Ingenuity, provides similar services. It also comes days after Amazon announced the invitation-only launch of ‘Buy with Prime’, which allows retailers to add the purchase option to their own DTC sites, with fulfilment by Amazon.
The new service is led by Mark Steel, previously director, retail and consumer industry at Google Cloud, which he joined from Argos, where he was digital director.
“DTC offers fmcg brands new ways and routes to reach their customers,” Steel said. “However, getting it right operationally is complex. Everymile will reduce the need for third party management, and allow fmcg brands to engage directly with their customers to nurture relationships.
“We see ourselves as a growth partner for clients, leveraging our expertise in brand building and audience identification, and ensuring brand consistency across every touchpoint. And our shared success model means we offer a simple and transparent pricing model,” he added.
WPP’s executive sponsor of Everymile is the company’s CFO John Rogers, former CEO of Argos. Everymile featured a leadership team “drawn from a range of commerce disciplines including logistics and fulfilment, customer service, technology and CRM” WPP said, with talent from Sainsbury’s and Asos.
“As digital penetration continues to grow at a significant rate, consumers now have even more choice and control of when and how they choose to buy,” said Rogers. “It is imperative for brands to develop an engaging, brand-led experience through which to build a direct relationship with their shoppers.
“At WPP we aim to deliver a unique service to our clients; building on our existing strength in commerce, Everymile provides a completely new proposition for brands – a fully managed direct-to-consumer commerce service that enables brands to successfully deliver their DTC ambitions through a strategic partnership with WPP,” Rogers added.
WPP has existing relationships with several major fmcg brands through its advertising and marketing work, including Unilever and P&G.
No comments yet