Luxury emergency? Get Gucci within 90 minutes
london — Thanks to a partnership with London-based fashion technology company Farfetch, you can soon get Gucci clothing and accessories whisked to your door within 90 minutes.
Farfetch announced the partnership on Wednesday, as the company showcases what it’s calling “The Store of the Future” — software and devices that aim to help luxury brands gather more information on customers in stores and online.
Customers will be able to shop for select items of Kering-owned Gucci goods via Farfetch’s app and website,
Retailers need a way to collect information about their customers while they are browsing in-store, just as they collect data from online searches Jose Neves, founder of Farfetch
and have those orders fulfilled within 90 minutes from Gucci stores in London, New York, Dubai, Los Angeles, Madrid, Miami, Milan, Paris, Sao Paulo and Tokyo.
The Gucci collaboration with Farfetch comes as competition heats up in online luxury. In a call with investors Tuesday, LVMH’s chief financial officer Jean-Jacques Guiony said the world’s largest luxury group would be the latest to ramp up multibrand e-commerce, considering a new site for its luxury department store Le Bon March.
“Retailers need a way to collect information about their customers while they are browsing in-store, just as they collect data from online searches,” Jose Neves, Farfetch’s founder and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
Founded in 2008 as an e-commerce platform for luxury boutiques, Farfetch has increasingly positioned itself as a technology provider working directly with highend brands. In March, it launched the e-commerce portal for high-end shoe designer Manolo Blahnik, pushing into a space where competitor Yoox Net-A-Porter Group has been a leader, operating whitelabel websites for brands including Yves Saint Laurent and Armani.
Among the in-store technologies Farfetch is showcasing is a scanner that will enable customers to “login” with a smartphone when they enter a store, allowing a sales assistant to view the customer’s profile, including what items they may have bought previously or saved to a wish list in the brand’s online store.
A clothing rack has been designed to record what items the customer picks up, storing the item on an app on the customers’ phone as well as for the retailer. — Bloomberg