Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods group and Alibaba Group announce a global strategic partnership to bring the retail offerings of YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP S.p.A. (YNAP), the world’s leading online luxury retailer, to Chinese consumers.
Under the partnership, YNAP and Alibaba will establish a joint venture (JV) to launch two mobile apps for YNAP’s NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER multi-brand, in-season online stores for consumers in China. Alibaba will provide technology infrastructure, marketing, payments, logistics and other technology support to the JV. The partnership will also leverage YNAP’s strong relationship with leading luxury brands, some 950 of them being currently distributed through YNAP in China.
In addition, the JV will launch NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER online stores on Alibaba’s Tmall Luxury Pavilion, an exclusive platform dedicated to the world’s leading luxury brands. Launched in 2017, the Tmall Luxury Pavilion aims to create the same brand exclusivity and tailored shopping experience that customers shopping offline typically enjoy. It enables brands to deliver highly personalized shopping experiences through curated homepages, customized brand pages, product recommendations and exclusive VIP awards.
YNAP and Alibaba will also explore future offerings that enable the JV’s customers to enjoy unique and seamless online and offline shopping experiences through digitizing and fully integrating the retail value chain from merchandising and marketing to payments and last-mile delivery. The JV will focus on serving consumers in China and will extend to Chinese consumers traveling abroad.
Richemont owns a portfolio of leading international ‘Maisons’ which are recognized for their distinctive heritage, craftsmanship, and creativity. The Group operates in four business areas: Jewellery Maisons, being Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels; Specialist Watchmakers, being A. Lange & Söhne, Baume & Mercier, IWC Schaffhausen, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Officine Panerai, Piaget, Roger Dubuis and Vacheron Constantin; Online Distributors, being YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP and Watchfinder.co.uk; and Other, including Alfred Dunhill, Azzedine Alaïa, Chloé, Montblanc and Peter Millar.
