Richemont targets China through joint venture with ecommerce group Alibaba

Richemont puts China on the radar. The Swiss luxury group has created a joint venture with ecommerce group Alibaba to introduce Yoox Net-a-Porter in the Asian country. Richemont owns the luxury platform since last May, when it took over a 95% stake in the business and delisted the company.

The collaboration among both groups will involve the launch of two mobile apps for Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter, which will also run an online store in Tmall’s Luxury Pavilion. This space within Alibaba’s platform was launched in 2017 and it enables foreign high-end brands to sell their collections in China.

In the framework of the joint venture, Alibaba will also provide technological infrastructure and support the marketing, payments and logistics functions. Johann Rupert, Richemont’s president, said that “Chinese consumers in the country and abroad are a client base increasingly important for Richemont and overall for the luxury industry.”

Daniel Zhang, chief executive officer at Alibaba Group, said that “the joint venture will bring Chinese consumers access to the main luxury brands worlwide”. According to him, Chinese consumers will represent almost half of the global luxury market in 2025.

Richemont revenues from April to August grew 22% year-on-year to 5.67 billion euros, boosted by Yoox-Net-a-Porter and Watchfinder acquisitions. In the same period of 2017, turnover amounted to 4.66 billion euros.