Farfetch

Farfetch is an e-commerce company focused on luxury clothing and beauty products. It operates as a digital marketplace that sells products from several hundred brands, boutiques and department stores from around the world. In January 2024, the company was acquired by Coupang.

History
Farfetch was founded in October 2008 by Portuguese businessman José Neves as a marketplace for high-end fashion. The company was based in London and had a launch team of 5 people. Initially registered as Far-fetch.com Ltd from 2007- 2010, then Farfetch.com Ltd from 2010 - 2013, the company's idea was to small offline fashion boutiques with a global customer base using technology.

In 2015, Farfetch announced its acquisition of one of the boutiques in its network, London high end retailer Browns. According to Neves, the aim was a closer integration of online and offline shopping in a "seamless experience".

In June 2017, Farfetch acquired fashion e-commerce website Style.com from Conde Nast, the same month Chinese e-commerce company JD.com Inc. had bought a stake in Farfetch for $397 million.

In September 2018, Farfetch (FTCH.N) listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The IPO raised $885 million after the issue of 33.6 million new shares and early investors sold up to 10.6 million shares. It was reported that Neves will net $1.2 billion from the IPO.

On 24 September 2018, animal rights activist organization PETA announced that they had purchased shares that would allow them to attend annual shareholder meetings and stop the company from selling fur products.

In December 2018, Farfetch acquired sneaker reseller, Stadium Goods, for $250 million. Three months later, it agreed to merge its Chinese business with JD.com.

In August 2019, Farfetch acquired New Guards Group, the parent organisation of Off-White designer label for $675million. Immediately following the purchase, Farfetch's shares plunged by over 40 percent.

In November 2020, Farfetch entered into a joint partnership with Richemont and Alibaba. Alibaba and Richemont jointly invested $600 million in Farfetch, taking a combined 25% stake in Farfetch’s Chinese ventures.

In October 2021, Farfetch launched its in-house fashion brand, There Was One. In January 2022, the firm acquired Los Angeles based beauty retailer Violet Grey for $55.7 million.

In April 2022, Farfetch announced the acquisition of Wannaby Inc. In August, it reached an agreement to purchase a 47.5% stake in fashion e-commerce YNAP Group from Swiss luxury conglomerate Richemont, turning Net-a-Porter into a neutral platform with no controlling shareholder.

In October 2023, CreditRiskMonitor reported that Farfetch was nearing a potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. Meanwhile, after shutting down their own beauty department, it announced the sale of Violet Grey after less than 2 years of ownership.

In November 2023, it was reported that luxury conglomerate LVMH was considering purchasing back the license for Off-White, or alternatively buying Farfetch outright. The following month, Farfetch began seeking other offers to purchase the company including one from Carmen Busquets, a cofounding investor of Net-a-Porter. The deal to purchase YNAP Group from Richemont fell through in December 2023 following the precipitous drop in Farfetch's market capitalization and continued losses.

On 18 December 2023 it was announced the firm would be acquired by South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang in a deal that would give Farfetch access to $500 million of capital. Despite challenges from a group of investors dubbed the 2027 Ad Hoc Group, who held over 50 percent of Farfetch’s convertible notes, the purchase was completed on 31 January 2024.

In February 2024, European luxury conglomerate Kering announced they would no longer work directly with Farfetch and were pulling their brands immediately. Going forward, Kering products will only be available on Farfetch via third party boutiques. In a statement to WWD, Deputy CEO Jean-Marc Duplaix said “Farfetch is not a strategic partner for us.”

Current operations
Farfetch currently operates marketplace websites and mobile apps in English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, German, Dutch, Brazilian Portuguese, Korean, Italian, Danish, Swedish and Russian and ships to customers in almost 190 countries.