PPR, the luxury conglomerate has entered into a partnership with luxury e-commerce site Yoox.com, to launch a new online platform. PPR owns luxury brands Bottega Veneta and Sergio Rossi and they will become available online on the new platform by the end of this year. The other brands like Yves Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga will also join the new platform sometime in 2013. Francois Henri Pinault, CEO of PPR has a very clear vision about the way forward. He wants to create the best possible e-commerce platform for all the PPR brands. Pinault is one of the few senior officials of the luxury industry who loves and understands new technology and is well placed to leverage it to the advantage of his business.
Pinault Involved in the New Initiative
Pinault has made e-commerce top priority for his business and has created a whole division to integrate digital into his company. Pinault is personally involved in the initiative and has a 360 degree vision of the digital world. The sites being created for the brands are being benchmarked against the best practices in the world. However Gucci has its digital priorities right and is far ahead of Sergio Rossi in terms of e-commerce. The other brands have to play catch up and follow the same practices to come at par and be in a position to provide the same experience to its customers.
Yoox was a Natural Choice for PPR
Yoox has established itself as the leading player in the field of e-commerce. They have used the technology well and have evolved with the growing technology and backed it up with the best logistics solutions. Yoox was a natural choice for Pinault as it provides him with a ready platform without waiting. The same platform will be used brand by brand. The technology will be identical for all the brands but inventory, pricing and design will be customized for individual brands depending on its positioning and brand identity. Pinault is focused on the online initiative as he wants to ensure the best practices across brands and provide the best possible online experience to their customer base that expects a luxury experience even when they are shopping online. His goal is to create a platform that is better than even Amazon.
Joint Venture Benefited PPR and Yoox
Pinault wants to maintain the differentiation of his luxury brands even online. He proposes to have a network of professional tailors who will visit a buyer’s home with online appointment to ensure a perfect fit and alter if required. You can’t possibly provide a more luxurious service than that. Only Modewalk, a relatively new luxury site offers a similar service in locations outside Paris. Pinault has his roadmap clearly chalked out. He believes that his Paris based company can generate 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) in online sales alone by 2020. He will keep adding more and more brands on the way. The high profile joined venture where PPR will have 51% stakes compared to 49% stakes of Yoox is benefitting both the partners. It was reflected in the share market as there was a significant increase in the trading of their shares and the increased demand saw Yoox shares gain 3.6% and PPR shares gain 1.3% in value in the process.
Via: foxbusiness/bloomberg
