Richemont and Alibaba Group have announced a global strategic partnership to bring the Swiss luxury goods group’s Yoox Net-a-Porter (YNAP) brands to Chinese consumers.

Under the partnership, YNAP and Alibaba will establish a joint venture to launch two mobile apps for Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter, along with in-season online stores for consumers in China.

Alibaba will provide technology infrastructure, marketing, payments, logistics and other technology support to the JV, while YNAP will leverage relationship with luxury brands, some 950 of them being currently distributed through YNAP in China.

The joint venture will also launch Net-a-Porter and Mr Porter online stores on Alibaba’s Tmall Luxury Pavilion, which lets brands deliver personalised shopping experiences through curated, customised web pages, product recommendations and exclusive VIP awards.

YNAP and Alibaba will also explore future offerings that give customers seamless online and offline shopping experiences through digitising and integrating the retail value chain from merchandising and marketing to payments and last-mile delivery. It will focus on serving consumers in China and will extend to Chinese consumers travelling abroad.

Johann Rupert, chairman of Richemont, said that Chinese customers at home and abroad are an increasingly important customer base for his company and the broader luxury industry.

“Our digital offering in China is in its infancy and we believe that partnering with Alibaba will enable us to become a significant and sustainable online player in this market,” he added.

Alibaba chief executive Daniel Zhang pointed out that Chinese consumers are expected to account for nearly half of the global luxury market by 2025.

“As Chinese consumers continue to upgrade their lifestyles, we want to meet the desires of Alibaba’s more than 600 million users,” he stated. “By integrating online and offline commerce through our New Retail technologies, we will be able to deliver a seamless experience to consumers as well as better enable these leading brands to engage their customers in new and innovative ways.”

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