Farfetch wants to create a neutral online luxury platform

Three years after the passage of Yoox Net-a-Porter under the control of Richemont, the luxury giant would be looking for potential buyers for part of the shares. The main candidate is Farfetch, in advanced negotiations to enter the group as a minority shareholder in a process that would see the gradual entry of other entities in a process that would put an end to the ongoing "ideological" clash between two realities that are as similar as they are different in luxury retailing. While both sell high-end brands, Yoox has always used a more direct approach compared to Farfetch, which has always focused on a more exclusive experience, even going so far as to divide customers into different brackets based on the amount of money spent on the site.

Jeremy Alvarez

Jeremy Alvarez

Jeremy Alvarez

Jeremy Alvarez

Momo Angela Ohta

That's why among the main purposes of this possible partnership is also to use the Farfetch platform to move Yoox toward what has been identified as a hybrid and neutral model, with no real controlling shareholders. As stated by Richemont, the ultimate goal of this agreement is to create an "industry-neutral platform, based on the latest omnichannel retail technologies, to support the digitization of the luxury industry," effectively creating a unique and unprecedented model that would seriously jeopardize the Wholesale model of which Yoox is the largest representative. The Wholesale model, as pointed out by BOF, still enjoys excellent health, as witnessed by the 500 million dollars in investments that arrived at the beginning of the year in the coffers of Saks.com, but for how much longer? Even Mytheresa, one of the most representative names in the Wholesale world, is working on a new "curated platform" for a reversal of direction with respect to the past.

If Richemont succeeds, the online retail of the luxury world will be faced with the possibility of eliminating the most common sales model and embracing a different one. But at what cost? Realities like Yoox and Saks represent a valid alternative to buy items from high-end brands at a lower cost than what you would find on Farfetch thanks to continuous stock updates with past collections. Depriving users of this possibility would actually prevent many from approaching brands that would otherwise remain out of their reach, giving further strength to the vintage and second-hand market.