“It?s a big boys? game ? it?s not for the faint hearted,? South Africa?s richest man and chairman of Richemont, Johann Rupert, once quipped about the online luxury market.
But in the three years since, Richemont has become emboldened enough to plough a further ?2.8bn (£2.4bn) to take full control of online luxury retailer Yoox Net-a-Porter.
The audacious move, revealed last week, will not only ramp up fledgling web sales of its brands ? including Cartier, Montblanc, Chloe and Van Cleef & Arpels ? but give the business the biggest grip on a booming market.
Online luxury is the fastest growing sector in retail. Its rampant expansion defies the relentless doom-mongering around a spending slowdown and more importantly suggests that it might just be the holy grail of retail: Amazon-proof. For many years, luxury brands viewed the internet with suspicion. This was partly because they believed that online clicks could not replicate the exclusive upmarket boutiques that their affluent shoppers were used to. They also feared the level of price transparency online; it not only allowed prospective shoppers to compare prices, but they were wary that displaying the often eye-watering prices of a Bulgari necklace or a Birkin handbag on a screen in black and white might be off-putting to buyers.
Yoox Net-a-Porter sells luxury fashion online

?There was trepidation from luxury brands about the e-commerce space as they felt it would lower their brand equity,? says Debora...