The UK-based off-price e-commerce platform Secret Sales acquires Afound, H&M Group’s digital marketplace.
Secret Sales plans to relaunch Afound on its platform in early December, offering customers access to over €5 billion worth of inventory sourced from 3,800 brands. This move is expected to strengthen its competitive edge in the European market.
Afound was introduced by H&M Group in 2018 as a concept store and transitioned into a digital marketplace a year later, featuring both external brands and H&M labels. Despite operating in seven European markets, H&M announced Afound’s closure earlier this year, citing insufficient demand and a shift by brands toward direct-to-consumer sales channels.
While H&M Group focuses on in-season retail, Secret Sales continues to double down on the off-price segment, where it is already a dominant player. The company, which boasts 16 million account holders and over 150 million site visits in the past year, revealed plans for further expansion in 2025 through additional mergers and acquisitions.