Kering to repatriate e-commerce in-house

Luxury group Kering – which counts Gucci, Saint Laurent, and Bottega Veneta among its power brands – is bringing its e-commerce activities in-house as it steps up its drive to build its fastest-growing sales channel.

E-commerce – which represented 6% of the group’s total retail sales in the first half of 2018 – had been handled through a joint venture with YNAP (Yoox Net-A-Porter Group) over the past seven years. However, the channel will transition to Kering in the first half of 2020. Rival luxury group, Richmont, ramped up its 49% stake in YNAP to full ownership in June 2018 (in a deal first revealed in January), subsequently delisting it from the Milan exchange.

The company said, “Digital is at the very heart of Kering’s Houses’ strategies. Customers draw inspiration from today’s hyper-connected world and they engage with luxury brands through the digital tools they use every day. In a fast-changing environment, the success of luxury houses depends upon their ability to offer bold creative propositions, an exceptional customer experience that is consistent across all distribution channels, and a unique customer relationship on all devices.”

Kering is seeking the same consistency of brand message and execution across all digital platforms to complement the positioning in mainstream retail. Pictured is flagship brand Gucci’s dazzling boutique at Sydney Airport.

The partnership with YNAP has enabled Kering’s maisons to enhance the level of service of their e-commerce websites. This has included availability checking, in-store product reservations or appointments, and in-store, pick-ups, returns or exchanges.

Asia Pacific including Japan accounted for 40% of Kering’s revenue in 2017. Source: Kering

The decision to go solo, gives Kering room to develop its brands online in customised ways in order to give clients a fully personalised experience. Gucci, Saint Laurent and Bottega Veneta currently have dedicated teams, while other brands are grouped under a single customer-service unit.

The group is also working with Apple on a suite of apps for in-store staff to access stock levels in real time down to specific sizes or colours of items and/or availability in other stores. The app has rolled out to two-thirds of the stores of its three biggest couture and leathergoods brands.

Investing resources in China

All Kering houses have launched or are launching WeChat mini-programmes in order to build close relationships with Chinese customers and to offer ‘social commerce’.

Kering has also invested in a data science team at group level to make the best use of available customer data and the company is now in the process of forming a China-based client and digital team. It will be responsible for adapting digital practices to the Chinese market, along with identifying and promoting innovations from China to other markets.

Kering Chief Client & Digital Officer Grégory Boutté appointed in December 2017 and charged with Kering’s digital transformation and to take the lead on e-commerce, CRM, data science and innovation – said: “These exciting initiatives have been designed to meet – and exceed – the needs of our houses’ customers and to ensure we continue to offer them an exceptional experience across all channels in a fast-changing global market.

“These opportunities have been made possible by the experience and knowhow that Kering has gained over the years, notably through its successful joint venture with YNAP. We will continue to work with them post-transition.”

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