Companies to form a joint venture to launch
luxury retail platform for Chinese consumers
Partnership to provide luxury brands enhanced
access to vast Chinese market
Richemont, the Swiss luxury goods group, and Alibaba Group today
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 personalised shopping experiences through curated homepages,
customised 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 digitising 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 travelling abroad.
Johann Rupert, Chairman of Richemont, said: “Chinese customers
at home and abroad are an increasingly important customer base for
Richemont and for the broader luxury industry. Our digital offering
in China is in its infancy and we believe that partnering with
Alibaba will enable us to become a significant and sustainable
online player in this market. Alibaba has become the preferred
online destination in China, with world-class teams in technology,
logistics and marketing. Through this joint venture, we look
forward to opening the important Chinese market to NET-A-PORTER, MR
PORTER and the luxury brands they offer their clientele. To this
end, we will work with Alibaba to ensure NET-A-PORTER and MR
PORTER’s continuing expansion as neutral, open and sophisticated
platforms.”
Federico Marchetti, CEO of YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP, said: “YOOX
NET-A-PORTER has always built long-term relationships with its
brand partners, protecting and nurturing the finest luxury names
online. Together with Alibaba, we will offer our brand partners the
same quality and reliability for the Chinese online market.
Leveraging NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER, luxury brands can
access a neutral and powerful platform to maximize China’s immense
potential.”
Daniel Zhang, CEO of Alibaba Group, said: “This multi-faceted
partnership will bring Chinese consumers unprecedented access to
the world’s leading luxury brands. Chinese consumers are expected
to account for nearly half of the global luxury market by 2025, and
through this partnership, Alibaba and YNAP will be even better
positioned to capture this compelling market opportunity. As
Chinese consumers continue to upgrade their lifestyles, we want to
meet the desires of Alibaba’s more than 600 million users. By
integrating online and offline commerce through our New Retail
technologies, we will be able to deliver a seamless experience to
consumers as well as better enable these leading brands to engage
their customers in new and innovative ways. We believe this
announcement is just the beginning of a long-term partnership, and
together we are committed to exploring many more opportunities to
collaborate in the future.”
About Richemont
Richemont owns a portfolio of leading international ‘Maisons’
which are recognised 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 & S�hne, 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.
For the financial year ended 31 March 2018, Richemont
reported sales of € 10 979 million, operating profit of
€ 1 844 million and profit for the year of € 1
221 million.
Richemont ‘A’ shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange,
Richemont’s primary listing, and are included in the Swiss Market
Index (‘SMI’) of leading stocks. Richemont South African Depositary
Receipts are listed in Johannesburg, Richemont’s secondary
listing.
About YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP
YOOX NET-A-PORTER GROUP is the world’s leading online luxury
fashion retailer.
Its unrivalled offering includes multi-brand in-season online
stores NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER, and multi-brand off-season
online stores YOOX and THE OUTNET, as well as numerous ONLINE
FLAGSHIP STORES, all “Powered by YNAP”. Building on its
Anglo-Italian roots, the Group has established offices and
operations in the United States, Europe, Middle East and Asia, and
delivers to more than 180 countries around the world.
About Alibaba Group
Alibaba Group’s mission is to make it easy to do business
anywhere and the company aims to achieve sustainable growth for 102
years. For the fiscal year ended March 2018, the company reported
revenues of US$39.9 billion.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181025006144/en/
Investor/analyst and media
contactsRichemontSophie Cagnard, Group Corporate
Communications DirectororJames Fraser, Investor Relations
ExecutiveInvestors/analysts: +41 22 721 30 03;
investor.relations@cfrinfo.netMedia:
+41 22 721 35 07; pressoffice@cfrinfo.net;
richemont@teneobluerubicon.comVisit Richemont.com for company
announcements.orAlibaba GroupJennifer Kuperman, Head of
International Corporate Affairs+1 415 595-6916;
jennifer.kuperman@alibaba-inc.comorBrion Tingler, Head of External
Affairs+1 917 528 1992; brion.tingler@alibaba-inc.comVisit Alizila.com for
Alibaba Group news and commentary.
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