Luxury brands love selling online

Posted by admin on Nov 9th, 2010 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

As this BBC video illsutrates, it was not so long ago that it was only possible to purchase high-end designer brands by walking into one of the brand’s own swanky stores. However, more and more luxury brands can now be bought direct, over the Internet. After years of shunning the internet because it was too slow and broadband connections were few and far between, fashion designers are finally embracing it.

Mr Marchetti’s company, Yoox, is one of a new breed of hi-tech firms that are powering the online strategies of some of the world’s biggest luxury retailers. Yoox manages the websites for 23 brands – including Armani, Ermenegildo Zegna and Marni – and has a waiting list of 33 more.

“The idea was to be the link between the internet world and the fashion world because these two were, and are, very far apart,” Marchetti says.

The company went public last year, the only share sale in Italy in 2009. Yoox is now worth 400m euros ($555m, £347m).

British firm Burberry has been on the cutting-edge of innovation in the luxury fashion world, providing live streams for its key Fashion Week shows. Anyone could click on the dresses – and order them before the show had even finished. 

Could this be the end of real stores? The low cost of selling online means that small high-end fashion brands can go online – and emphasise their quality.