Publications
Publications
- November 2021 (Revised December 2022)
- HBS Case Collection
Farfetch: Digital Transformation for Luxury Brands
By: Sunil Gupta, Jill Avery, Elena Corsi and Federica Gabrieli
Abstract
Farfetch, a global luxury technology platform and digital marketplace had been surfing the wave of digital transformation in the luxury fashion industry since 2008. While the company’s stock price and market valuation had fluctuated since its IPO in 2018, it had achieved positive EBITDA only once in the fourth quarter of 2020. Now, CEO Jose Neves had to decide how to allocate company resources across the various business lines that had sprung up alongside the marketplace, including Farfetch Platform Solutions, a modular set of e-commerce technology solutions and services for luxury retailers and brands, the Store of the Future initiative, a partnership with Alibaba and two of the largest luxury houses (Richemont and Kering), and investment in Farfetch’s own fashion brands. As the company expanded into new business lines, it stewarded an increasingly complex and interdependent luxury ecosystem in which it could be perceived as both a collaborator and a potential competitor to its various constituents. How could Neves chart the best path to profitable growth while keeping everyone satisfied as competition heats up in the online and offline luxury retailscape?
Keywords
Digital Marketing; Marketplaces; Retailing; Internet Marketing; E-Commerce Strategy; Marketing; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Channels; Brands and Branding; Luxury; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Transformation; E-commerce; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Fashion Industry; Retail Industry; Web Services Industry; Technology Industry; United Kingdom; Europe; Portugal; China
Citation
Gupta, Sunil, Jill Avery, Elena Corsi, and Federica Gabrieli. "Farfetch: Digital Transformation for Luxury Brands." Harvard Business School Case 522-051, November 2021. (Revised December 2022.)