FARFETCH’S FAR REACH
The Netflix of Fashion Takes Over Online Retail
All of us have shopped online, especially now in a time when it is simply safer to do so. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who’s never heard of online behemoth Amazon. However, one area that has seemed to escape Amazon’s reach is fashion. Online retailers like ASOS and Zulily have long since been making their own lines of clothing and accessories, but have failed to effectively capture and feature other well-known brands (although ASOS has recently featured Polo and Abercrombie & Fitch). There’s one online shopping site, however, that has made luxury retailer collections readily available (don’t worry, we see you, Gilt), and has also began creating its own line of clothing. What is this “Netflix of Fashion” that is mounting its takeover? None other than Farfetch.
Founded in 2007 (and launched in 2008) by Portuguese entrepreneur Jose Neves, Farfetch is an online retail platform that sells products from over 700 boutiques and brands from around the world. What began as a global e-commerce marketplace for luxury boutiques now connects customers in over 190 countries with nearly 1,300 of the world’s best brands, boutiques, and department stores. Farfetch delivers a truly unique shopping experience and provides access to the most extensive selection of luxury goods on a single platform. But what does that mean for brick & mortar stores?
Here’s how Farfetch works:
When a brand begins working with Farfetch, the boutiques’ inventories are directly linked/uploaded into Farfetch’s system, meaning you see the exact same things an in-shop client sees. When a customer places an order on the Farfetch site, the order is sent not to some huge warehouse, but rather directly to the boutique itself. Payment is taken care of on Farfetch’s side, so all the boutique has to do is process the order at its point of sale (this removes the product from the boutique’s inventory, which means it’s also removed from Farfetch), box it up in Farfetch-provided packaging, and send it out via UPS or DHL. It’s a huge incentive for the boutique because it ultimately gets the sale (Farfetch obviously takes a commission), and it’s also an incentive for the customer knowing that the product is coming directly from a boutique.
With Farfetch growing more and more each year, what does this mean for in-person shopping? And while we’re at it, what will it mean for online ordering from a boutique’s own website? For the brand websites, one easy solution is online exclusives. It’s going to be tougher for brick & mortar, especially in a time when in-person shopping simply isn’t as safe as it once was. Boutiques also can’t do in-store exclusives like their websites can because any product they receive is automatically linked to Farfetch’s system. Stores have to set themselves apart from their online counterparts, as well as their competitors, through the experience they offer once the client is inside.
In the meantime, Farfetch’s wide-cast net will continue to offer the closest thing to in-store shopping without having to leave home.
