FarFetch is considered one of a brand new breed of on-line vogue marketplaces catering to the luxurious finish of the market. It has tapped right into a rising ecosystem of youthful luxurious customers who’re on the lookout for distinctive merchandise.
To fill this area of interest, FarFetch has constructed its enterprise on offering an ecommerce platform for small luxurious manufacturers, boutiques and designers. The corporate now has greater than 1,400 such sellers on its platform and, to increase, is more and more reaching out on to model house owners to host their wares on its web site, giving these smaller gamers an opportunity to leap into ecommerce with minimal outlay.
This mannequin has been very profitable. Being on-line focussed, the corporate noticed a growth in gross sales and visitors throughout 2019 and 2020 as customers had been compelled nearly solely on-line. Whereas this has tailed off to a point, dropping 18% in 2021 because the market normalises, the positioning continues to have a look at new methods to service its buyer base.
Having signed up all eligible and boutiques and designers that it may possibly discover, the corporate has shifted to a plan of enlargement by way of acquisition and offers. For instance, in January 2022, it purchased main luxurious magnificence market Violet Gray, including their huge array of magnificence and beauty merchandise. The transfer opens up the positioning to the burgeoning luxurious magnificence market, with an estimated annual price of $69bn globally, in addition to including new content material to its web site to assist drive visitors.
The corporate has appeared to generate additional development by embedding its luxurious market mannequin into the broader luxurious sector. In mid-2022, the corporate successfully partnered with Richemont, shopping for a 47.5% stake in Richemont-owned YOOX Internet-a-Porter (YNAP), a hybrid luxurious clearance vendor and shoppable digital journal. Richemont chairman, Johann Rupert, says it is a step in direction of constructing an “unbiased impartial on-line platform for the luxurious trade” for high-end manufacturers and their clients.
The deal has attracted the eye of the UK’s Competitors and Mergers Authority (CMA). Ought to the deal undergo, it’s going to see Richemont use Farfetch’s tech to promote its manufacturers by way of a market mannequin, whereas giving FarFetch entry to extra luxurious manufacturers and merchandise.
This text is an extract from our newly launched RetailX World Luxurious Report 2023 which you’ll obtain right here.