Buying clothes online has become such common practice today that it is hard
to imagine that this was not always the case. The internet, which started
to gain popularity in the late nineties, hit rock-bottom in 2000 when the
dotcom-bubble burst. The endless optimism for the future of the new medium
suddenly changed into distrust, which in turn brought about an economic
crisis. It seemed illogical to open a webshop for luxury goods in a time
investors had lost all hope for the internet, but that is exactly what
Natalie Massenet did. Following her gut turned out to be the right
decision, as her company Net-A-Porter has grown out to become one of the
most loved online destinations for luxury fashion goods. The company
announced its merger with , an Italian outlet for luxury goods, in
July this year and less than two months later revealed she would be leaving the
group. Massenet’s company is still described as a pioneer when it comes to
luxury fashion e-tail, but the question remains as to how how Net-A-Porter
grew to become one of the most successful luxury e-tailers?
When Massenet first began approaching potential investors and brands
for Net-A-Porter, she was often met with reluctance from those she tried to
get on board with her idea for the company. “You’d go through a pitch and
say: ‘And then you can click and buy it from pictures and it’s delivered
anywhere in the world.’ And they’d listen and they’d nod and then
afterwards they’d say: ‘Just tell me one more thing: where is your
store?'”, said Massenet in an interview with The Guardian. Designers were
convinced at the time that people would not buy luxury goods online because
the experience would never match the feeling of visiting a real store.
Massenet, on the other hand, believed that women were looking for a unique
experience. Also, she felt that the world was lacking a store where people
could visit to find special fashion pieces. The entrepreneur envisioned
Net-A-Porter as a luxurious store where clothes would be presented in a way
that designers and consumers alike would associate with shopping in a
physical store.
In addition to changing the luxury industry, Net-A-Porter also
transformed online retail. By blending the best of retail with a magazine,
Massenet´s website gave women the opportunity to buy clothes that were
handpicked by a fashion editor. “People always say to me, ‘You’ve really
strived to redefine retail.’ But the reality is, I wanted to redefine
magazines,” admitted Massenet in The Evening Standard. In addition to
offering fashion, editorial content also played an important role on the
website. Nick Pope, director fashion and luxury at Deloitte UK, praises
Massenet´s focus on content. “When buying a luxury product, the transaction
itself only constitutes a small part of the experience. It is all about
offering more than just a product in this industry,” explains Pope to
FashionUnited. Finally, Massenet herself is another unique aspect of the
company she founded. “As a mother, mogul and style-setter, she became their
aspirational figure, and they shopped on her site because they wanted to be
like her; they wanted a slice of her life, and her taste. People buy brands
because they buy, in large part, what a brand stands for. The product or,
in this case, the site, represents a set of values and an identity,”
explains Vanessa Friedman, fashion critic for the New York Times. Thanks to
her impeccable sense of style and her unique approach to shopping, Massenet
was able to start a business that clearly stood out from all other
webstores.
Actress #ElleFanning stars in #THEEDIT
magazine this week, showcasing #FW15’s English heroine look. In a mix of
luxe traditional fabrics and fashion-forward new cuts, Fanning perfectly
captures the modern mood in the exclusive cover story. #Photo by
@billykiddstudio. #Style by @ttstyle. #SeeitLoveitBuyit and read The EDIT
magazine on #NETAPORTERA photo
posted by NET-A-PORTER (@netaporter) on Sep 14, 2015 at 5:30am
PDTBecoming the world’s number one
“At the time I said ‘we’re only going to do this, if we’re going to be
the best in the world’,” recounts Megan Quinn, one of the first investors
and employees of Net-A-Porter, about her response to Massenet’s question if
she would be willing to become involved in her newly founded business. From
the boxes in which orders were dispatched, to the brands that were sold:
Quinn believed that the company could only become a success if every aspect
of the business would be excellent. The only fashion stores that existed on
the internet in 1999 targeted the lower price segment and Quinn was
determined to adopt a completely different approach. “Our website had to be
for women, designed by women: a replica of a Chanel or Gucci store with
champagne and a hatted doorman, but in an online setting.” In order to get
rid of the barrier of shipping costs, Net-A-Porter invested in delivering
packages to make sure that potential customers would not be put off by
this. Lastly, the well-known black box that enclosed all orders also
contributed to Net-A-Porter’s luxury image. “Luxury packaging should not be
skimped on – customers still want the luxury experience and want to have as
much personalisation as possible,” confirms Fflur Roberts, head of luxury
goods at market intelligence firm Euromonitor. “The positioning of their
brand name is crucial for online luxury retailers. Since these companies do
not have a physical store where they can demonstrate what they stand for,
luxury e-tailers often need to distinguish themselves through offering
outstanding customer service,” adds Nick Pope.The fact that Net-A-Porter’s customer service is impressive is no
exaggeration. “One of the most exciting aspects of working here comes from
the dialogue that exists with our consumers,” clarifies Tess MacLeod Smith,
vice president publishing and media at Net-A-Porter. For example,
Macleod’s staff carried out research among 10.000 loyal customers of the
luxury company to find out how they prefer to stay up to date on the latest
fashion.Net-A-Porter equals innovation
Rather than only listening to
their customers´ wishes, Net-A-Porter is also fast to use this information
to satisfy customer demands. “So when we thought about our consumer and how
she digests fashion content today,” Macleod said to the website Contently,
“we launched Porter—the first global, truly shoppable fashion magazine.”
All products that are pictured in Porter can immediately be bought via
Net-A-Porter, and the Net-A-Porter application can also be used to scan
products and receive complementary information. The magazine which was
launched in 2014, now has a circulation of 152.000 copies: yet again
proving Net-A-Porter´s ongoing success.With the smartphone´s
growing importance in regards to e-commerce, Net-A-Porter was quick to
catch on and developed a new social application: The Net Set. Fashionistas who create a profile
can add products to their page and see which items celebrities and their
friends like. Furthermore, the app can be used to ask style experts for
advice or to keep up with the latest news on fashion. The application was
first launched as an invite-only but since September onwards it has become
available for everyone. “Digital innovation doesn’t stand still and neither
do we,” commented Massenet in The Telegraph.The company, which was built on a vision in which perfectionism and
innovation were essential, is now officially part of the new entity
Yoox-Net-A-Porter Group as of today. The first designer brands to be sold
on Net-A-Porter were designed by friends of Massenet, such as Anya
Hindmarch and Tamara Mellon from Jimmy Choo. Currently, the e-tailer has
expanded its assortment to include 390 brands. The luxury webstore, which
was acquired by Swiss luxury group Richemont in 2010, now attracts 10.7
million unique visitors per month who spend an average of 500 pounds per
session. According to Pope, 5 percent of sales in the luxury fashion
industry takes place on the internet. “And we expect this percentage to
grow to 20 or 25 percent in five years,” he adds. “Internet sales are
widely seen as the industry’s key battleground of the next five years. It
will only be a matter of time before digital sales catch up with physical
sales,” agrees Roberts. It cannot be denied that Net-A-Porter is currently
undergoing changes, but the future looks bright for the e-tailer which made
its first in five years last year.Photo credits: Net-A-Porter, Instagram en www.white.net