Online retailer plans to go public as luxury sector grows

LONDON — Farfetch offers the latest Gucci items delivered to your door in 90 minutes, has distribution deals with brands like Nike and TAG Heuer, and recently started an Arabic-language site to cater to the tastes of wealthy Middle Eastern shoppers.

Now the company is turning its attention to the appetites of a new client: Wall Street.

The London-based online luxury marketplace formally unveiled plans Monday for an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange, the latest sign of growth in a booming global fashion e-commerce space flooded with cash and sky-high valuations.

A platform for 500 independent luxury boutiques and 200 brands, Farfetch was founded by José Neves in 2007 and is now one of a handful of technology companies in Europe with a valuation of more than $1 billion.

The move by Farfetch to go public has been long anticipated, underscoring shifting shopping trends as high-end e-commerce continues rises. That stands in contrast to a wider retail industry outlook worldwide, shaped by the shuttering of established chains, changing consumer habits and the ever-present threat of Amazon.

Shoppers who are money-rich but time-poor have been increasingly looking to buy from online fashion players rather than traditional boutiques. As a result, Farfetch and rivals like Yoox Neta-Porter — which owns and operates internet retailers like Net-a-Porter, Mr Porter and the Outnet — have been growing, and both companies have been spending large amounts of cash to expand rapidly. Yoox Net-a-Porter, for example, recently ramped up its offerings of $15,000 Chopard and Piaget watches, and expects to generate 100 million euros, or about $114 million, in revenue from high-end jewelry and watches by 2020.

Shoppers who are money-rich but time-poor have been increasingly looking to buy from online fashion players rather than traditional boutiques.