Yoox + Net-a-Porter = Upscale Fashion E-tail Power

Italy-based luxury e-tailer Yoox just arranged to buy the London-based fashion e-tailer Net-a-Porter. The deal moves Net-a-Porter from Richemont (which owns Cartier and other lux brands) to a new owner that debuted online during the same month and year as Natalie Massenet's brainchild--June, 2000.

Yoox has succeeded where the late Boo.com did not...with a form of off-price retailing that allowed upscale fashion brands to get their out-of-season styles into the hands of tech-savvy consumers with clicks, not bricks. Yoox's founder, Federico Marchetti, knows finance and had a vision of e-tailing that, just before the dot-com bust of 2000, was ready to gain a foothold.

Now Yoox is adding its logistical power and Big Data capabilities to the cachet and service responsiveness of Net-a-Porter, aiming for more momentum in the increasingly competitive online fashion retail space. Yoox's founder says:

E-commerce is a very analytical and process-driven business, while luxury is very visual — it’s all about creativity, the content and image.