Online and offline luxury find each other in the strategic partnership that e-commerce platform Farfetch and American luxury department store group Neiman Marcus have entered. The deal also ensures foreign expansion.
Department stores go digital
The online luxury retailer will invest 200 million dollars (180 million euros) into the ailing Neiman Marcus Group, owner of the iconic American department stores Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman. The department store group went bankrupt at the outbreak of the corona crisis and relaunched in September 2020, but now Farfetch is going to help digitise the company.
Farfetch is not only becoming a co-owner, but both Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus are also joining the Farfetch platform as partners. This means that the assortment of the luxury department store chains will soon be available for sale internationally via the online marketplace.
The e-commerce platform will also develop and manage a new website and mobile app for the New York department store Bergdorf Goodman, which could allow it to expand abroad within a few months. With the collaboration, the companies want to revolutionise integrated and omnichannel luxury retail. For Farfetch, the deal is primarily a way to gain a foothold in the United States. Last year, luxury consumption surged in the US market and with Russia gone, the market is rapidly growing in importance. Companies are also shifting their focus to the US because of the new resurgence of Covid in China. Neiman Marcus Group is already noticing strong sales this spring.
