Asos hires Mothercare exec for Marketplace

Miles, who joins Asos as head of ecommerce - Marketplace, will be responsible for developing the buyer and seller experience for the platform, which launches

later this year. She will report to Asos ecommerce director James Hart, who has overall responsibility for Marketplace.

Marketplace will go head to head with auction site eBay, as it will allow customers to sell second-hand clothes at a fixed price. EBay moved into fixed-price selling with the launch of a separate fashion area in April. Both Amazon and Play.com already run successful marketplace platforms.

Miles joined Mothercare, where she is also responsible for the Early Learning Centre, in January 2008. Prior to that, she was internet channel manager at PC World, owned by electricals giant Dixons, and is a former commercial manager at Tesco, where she was part of the Tesco Direct launch team in 2005.

Marketplace will also offer an online platform for independent retailers to sell goods. Hart declined to comment on which retailers were involved with the Marketplace BETA programme. Asos will send scouts to visit those retailers to authenticate what they sell.

The platform will also be open for brands and businesses wishing to sell overstock.

Hart has also appointed Jemma Dyas as a fashion scout for Marketplace. She joins on August 16 from upmarket boutique Browns Focus, where she has been for just over two and a half years and is a buyer. She will be responsible for securing some of the brands she has been working with at Browns. She is also a former assistant buyer at Selfridges.