Can Farfetch Be Fixed?

0:07Hello, and welcome to The Debrief from the Business of Fashion, where each week we delve into our most popular BOF professional stories with the correspondents who created them. I'm executive editor Brian Baskin. And I'm senior correspondent Sheena Butler-Young. When the South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang swooped in and bought the troubled luxury marketplace Farfetch a little over a year ago, there were plenty of questions about whether a company that sells toothpaste and toasters could also sell Cuccinelli and Prada. Thanks to some incredible reporting by BOF e-commerce correspondent Malik Morris, who recently published a real blockbuster of an article inside Coupang's tug of war with Farfetch, we now know the answer, which is sort of?

0:51Coupang said this week that Farfetch's losses have narrowed significantly, but sales are down by a quarter since 2022. Malik is here with us today to walk us through it. Hello, Malik, and welcome to the Debrief podcast. Hi, Brian. Hi, Sheena. Thank you for having me back. I always love chatting with you. I'm really excited to dive into this particular topic today. And so are we. I love this story. So as a startup, Farfetch figured out how to sell a lot of luxury fashion online. They were the biggest player right up basically to the point where they almost had to file for bankruptcy, which gets to the bigger problem there, which is they never figured out how to make money selling luxury fashion online.

1:28Malik, what was the problem at the heart of Farfetch pre-Coupé? Yeah, I think a good place to start is to kind of just go back into their history. You know, Farfetch was actually pretty innovative when it launched in 2008. You know, as you mentioned, it became the biggest marketplace. A lot of that started with them being one of the first online fashion destinations that made curated inventory from independent boutiques around the world available to shoppers online. And e-commerce is already a tough beast. It's a difficult business model to make profitable. You know, first there's getting people to buy goods online, which really wasn't as commonplace as it became after the pandemic.

2:05So you have to offer things like free shipping and returns, which is costly. Then there's the customer acquisition piece of it all, you know, actually acquiring those customers to come and shop on your marketplace. And Farfetch had the extra headache of offering luxury goods, which can be a hard sell without a customer trying it on first and being wined and dined with champagnes and really pretty boutiques on Fifth Avenue. But then online ads got more expensive as Farfetch's business matured. And then the brands that Farfetch sold on its marketplace, they started investing in their own e-commerce and then competing directly with this multi-brand marketplace proposition.

2:40I think it needs to be said that Farfetch didn't really do itself any favors by going on an acquisition spree and kind of veering very far away from its core marketplace model. You know, it acquired a brand incubator called New Guards Group, which at the time owned a license for Off-White. It bought the department store of Browns and then a cult beauty retailer based in L.A. called Violet Gray. And it also sold white label e-commerce software the way that Shopify does to brands and retailers. But that never became the moneymaker that the company was hoping for. So all this really took away from focusing on the core marketplace right as the pitch to sell luxury goods online was getting more complicated.

3:19Hence, no profits. And when the financial situation got truly dire at the end of 2023 and Coupang comes in and they say we're going to infuse$500 million to save this business, but not a penny more, essentially. I mean, it sounds like the first thing they did basically was strip away all these side businesses and distractions. Oh, no, for sure. I mean, for one, they shuttered the Farfetch platform solutions, which is the e-commerce software service that was supposed to be, you know, this sort of global online platform for luxury brands. And they had, you know, some reputable tailors and brands on there.

3:54I think Tom Brown was using them. Sure. And, you know, Jose Neves, the founder of Farfetch, used to talk about the, you know, the store of the future and integrating online and physical retail. I mean, really, he at least publicly was talking like this was the future of Farfetch, not just selling stuff on a marketplace. Yeah. I mean, huge, huge ambitions. Also, it's to be said, obviously, the company went public in 2018. And a big part of that proposition, a big part of that pitch to Wall Street was that they were a tech company. They weren't just a luxury goods marketplace. That sounds familiar.

4:28Yes. There was a few companies pushing themselves as tech companies in that era, and it didn't go so well for them. Not at all. And I think the difference is with Farfetch, they actually had a bit of a foundation with having that software service with trying to be the Shopify for luxury goods. And the proposition there was that at the time, Shopify was really for these small businesses selling just like kind of consumer goods. And like Farfetch was, the pitch was having that same sort of software and that same technological prowess, but for this idea of selling the Cuccinellis and the Pradas, which there's a lot more there than just putting an image up and, you know, attaching a checkout to that when it comes to selling luxury goods online.

5:05But yeah, that stuff didn't pan out. And so, you know, Coupang has been very judicious about getting rid of some of that stuff, you know, cutting, shuttering Farfetch platform solutions. You know, they've also done the customary headcount culling. They switched logistic partners that saved millions. Like Farfetch was working with DHL and UPS. And then last year, Coupang pushed Farfetch to start working with FedEx, which definitely, you know, put more millions of dollars on the balance sheet, which was those things are to be expected. but they've also been doing deeper cuts more than that and in ways that actually hasn't been helpful so they've also cut teams that were like dedicating to working with farfetched vip customers who can make up as much as 30 of the company's annual sales so not great and these teams were really instrumental in doing everything from curating shopping lists for top clients to helping them deal with order delays and such and when you're dealing with a customer who i don't know is let's say spending thirty thousand dollars on your marketplace a year it's not just oh well we'll look into why the fact that your package isn't there or why this is taking a day to process.

6:14Like, no, I need to like coddle you a little bit. And like, you need to have someone who was versed in doing that. So they're cutting teams in like New York and in Hong Kong and Shanghai and London who were dedicated to that. That was one of the more shocking details in your excellent story that recently ran on what's been happening at Farfetch. Because I just I put myself in the shoes of someone who's spending, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on Farfetch. and thinking if I was routed to a call center and wherever, just like someone like, I don't know, Brian Baskin who buys like one, you know, tiny item a year, I would be enraged.

6:47I was like feeling enraged on behalf of these rich customers just thinking about that. It sounds a lot like when you have a strategic buyer versus a buyer that understands the industry. It seems like they were just going and hacking away at teams and not really understanding the value of what each person does or what each department does. To give people a picture of how much cuts were done, you're talking about 6 ,000 employees and now you've halved that to 3 ,000. What was their rationale for cutting teams like that? Did they have one or was it just cut as much as you can and make it look profitable?

7:18Well, I will say that the fun part of working on this story is that it's not as black and white. Some of this stuff needed to happen. So Farfetch in trying to become the global platform for online luxury fashion, they were hiring a lot, specifically engineers in Portugal. And so to support this hyper ambition, support this growth, they probably took on too much. And part of that was, you know, these teams that they were putting in place. So some of those people, and I said they had to go, that's incredibly insensitive, but it probably were more than needed to be there. Now, if it needed to be halved is another question, but there was overhiring that was done that needed to be corrected.

7:59So again, this is all customary, but I do think something that context to go into a little bit is the idea of these initial expectations. Like you were saying, you know, Brian, this idea of like a e-commerce giant, you know, like a coupé, which is like sometimes called the South Koreans version of Amazon, known for selling like toilet paper and things of that nature, like taking on a brand or a retailer that is known for selling Gucci and Prada. The expectations were that Coupang could get Farfetch's back of house in order, mainly by decreasing logistics costs and improving speed and efficiency, as they say in e-commerce speak, which Coupang, like Amazon, is known for.

8:40We actually wrote a piece dissecting the deal back in 2023 in December, shortly after it was announced. And we said Farfetch could benefit from Coupang's technological prowess. And it was kind of an open secret that Farfetch's software wasn't as advanced as they had let on. But we also anticipated there could be hiccups if Coupang didn't understand how to properly integrate its operational efficiencies into a luxury marketplace environment. And that's exactly what ended up happening, according to our reporting. Right, because you mentioned the switching to FedEx and logistics is supposed to be Coupang's whole thing.

9:12And I know the CEO, even in the context of Farfetch, said this is what we're going to bring to Farfetch. But it sounds like it's almost had the opposite effect. Yeah. Well, I think that that kind of goes into like some of the cultural differences, right? With Coupang and being sort of Amazon like, you know, known for selling toilet paper and portable speakers at low price and high speed. The executives there believe that things like fast liberty and competitive pricing will win over customers. Again, not unlike Amazon, but that's a fundamentally different proposition than what luxury e-commerce players should be offering, which is a premium experience based on product curation and going the extra mile for top 30 clients who don't necessarily care as much about getting the lowest price if they're being catered to in other ways.

9:52And I think when it comes down to the whole shipping piece of it, it's like Coupang is so hyper-focused on getting Farfetched to profitability, which has been a challenge and a struggle for Farfetched, I think, for its entire existence, that they're like, this is a huge win. The fact that we got these costs down and we're getting them to EBITDA break even and things of that nature. And then from there, we can figure out those operational efficiencies that will then win over customers. But when you're dealing with people who are, as you were saying, Brian, spending$100 ,000 a year on the marketplace, it doesn't quite work that way.

10:24So that's where a big part of the source of disconnect has been. Yeah. And, you know, it's there are brands that also make the products that people spend$100 ,000 or more a year on. And they're also none too pleased with how some of the businesses change in terms of offering the premium experience. Talk a little bit about that. You say it beautifully in your story in trimming the fat. They trim the muscle. What does that mean for brands and what are brands doing? Yeah. So actually we reported last February, I think a month after Coupang officially took over Farfetch, that Kering, the luxury conglomerate that owns brands like Gucci, Bottega Veneta, and Saint Laurent, were cutting ties with Farfetch.

11:04And so they would no longer be selling directly on the platform. And basically what Coupang has been doing with Farfetch is sort of stripping away the incentives of keeping brands there, the carriers of the world, or, you know, we call it Celine, Elias, others who have decided to sort of cut ties with Farfetch. And, you know, they've done away with guidelines that gave top brands negotiating power and pricing, which let them And sure, they had uniform prices across all their selling channels, including on Farfetch and their e-commerce and their own e-commerce and physical stores. So, again, not much incentive.

11:38But then a big thing that we had reported on back in February but got deeper into in this story is that Farfetch, you know, was offering their retail partners complete anonymity for those who were willing to sell these brands that don't want to be sold on Farfetch. This is the gray market, right? Yeah. Yeah. So what that is, you know, is Farfetch is offering anonymity to retailers in this program called Sold by Farfetch. And basically they list goods from brands like Gucci or Alaya that don't want to be on the platform through these retail partners. But where customers could usually see who those partners were, like when they went on a product page, like shop, you know, an Alaya ruched dress.

12:16And it says, oh, it's coming from, you know, retailer X in, I don't know, in Copenhagen. It just says Sold by Farfetch. so that basically, you know, brands don't know where the product is coming from. Also, instead of sending the goods straight from the retailers to the customers, which was the essential part of Farfetch's platform, the items are now going to a warehouse in Amsterdam to be repackaged and then shipped so that, again, it doesn't have the label of where it's coming from. And that's causing further shipping delays. Let's be clear. This is unusual for a luxury retailer to do. Yes? Yes.

12:50Very unusual. Yeah. I mean, it's not only a knock to Farfetch's relationships with top brands, but it's also risk deteriorating customer service. And actually, you know, we point out in the story, there are more items available from top brands because of this. We have some data in the story, which, of course, you should go and read and to find out. But what does that mean if customers also start to decamp to other platforms because their packages are taking too long to reach them? And I think it also further degrades the idea that Farfetch offers a unique shopping experience because we've written about this exact tactic, but in the context of Shein selling luxury goods, this is exactly how they do it.

13:27And I think if you're starting to say, well, Farfetch is doing something that Shein or Walmart.com is doing, you know, it doesn't really feel like the kind of place you want to go and spend a ton of money on luxury products, especially when there's so many alternatives out there. Yeah. And I mean, that's the whole thing, right? It's a shame this is happening now when luxury consumers are questioning whether buying high-end goods from anyone is worth it. And the best brands and retailers are having to cater to and rely on the ultra-wealthy for the bulk of their sales. You know, we've written a lot about MyTheresa, the German retailer that's been one of Farfetch'd main competitors for a very long time, and how they've emerged as a standout in online luxury in the last year because they're focused on offering their top customers money-can-buy experiences and exclusive collections with top brands like Loewe and Brunello Cuccinelli, one of my favorite brands.

14:14And that requires, A, having great connection and relationship with your customers, but also having great connection and relationship with the brands themselves. So it's not the time to skimp out on making your top clients and your top brands feel special, which it seems like Farfetch is doing based on our reporting. We'll be back with more of The Debrief right after this.

14:38I'm so glad you brought up MyTeresa because in a way we have this experiment going on right now where you have two companies doing the exact opposite approach in how you treat your customer and how you treat the brands on your platform. And I guess we'll see which one wins in the end. I mean, it should be noted Farfetch's sales, even after the decline, are still something I think they're still double MyTeresas. So they're still much bigger. But I do wonder in the long run what the trajectories are for these two companies. Well, we have to back up a little bit because I'm not sure if people remember this, but Farfetch, before it needed to be acquired to survive, it was actually supposed to acquire a 47.5 % stake in its competitor, Uxnet-a-Porter.

15:19Ah, how soon we forget. That was a big deal. Yeah. And eventually take it off of Richemont's hands. Richemont, obviously, you know, the owner of Cartier. But the deal there was for Farfetch to go in and acquire YNAP outright once it reached profitability. That obviously fell through because Farfetch was about to go under. But we also reported this year, but it's also widely known now, that Maya Teresa is now going to be acquiring YNAP. So its size could potentially double once that deal goes through. And they have plans to mold Net-A-Porter and Mr. Porter, the menswear subsidiary, into similar image of MyTeresa of, again, focusing on those top clients, the curated product inventory, and also those amazing experiences, which Net-A -Porter does a bit of, but can definitely double down on.

16:11So who knows? I think with that happening, it could spell more trouble for their competitors. I believe that deal closes sometime late in the first half of this year. And you're right, it's going to be so interesting to see what happens because they could really turn those two sites into a Farfetch killer and just take all of that business because they have the selection. They have that name recognition, which is something MyTeresa has always struggled with. They have a broader range of prices. They could really build something there for sure. On a positive note, there are brands that are doing business on Farfetch and enjoying the process.

16:44I want to bring it back to that. Talk about the brands that are still selling there and what they're getting from Farfetch under Coupang that's keeping them on the platform. Well, I think that's actually a great point, Sheena, that, you know, Farfetch's biggest superpower is that many independent boutiques still rely on it. It's important for Farfetch to survive because those retail partners could find themselves in a similar position to the indie brands that went bankrupt when matches fashion. Another luxury e-commerce competitor was Shudder last year. But if Farfetch can at least do right by those retail partners, then it probably has a shot of stabilizing its footing.

17:18in online luxury, we reported in the story that Farfetch is piloting a new fee structure with select retailers that basically let those partners choose a flat commission fee for the items they want to sell, essentially choosing not only what they're going to put on the platform, but how much it's going to be priced at, what is going to be priced at, and how much commission they're going to get from it. And one of the retailers I spoke to who was engaging with Farfetch on this, with this practice, said that it would absolutely encourage them to give Farfetch their best items, which, you know, that right there improves inventory, which is honestly half the battle in retail.

17:50So, you know, Farfetch, I think is starting on a good foot by offering retailers pricing flexibility and like trying to at least massage that relationship. But honestly, a couping will eventually have to allow Farfetch to reinvest in their relationship with customers and brands, you know, that might cost them a couple million, but hopefully with a renewed focus on just the marketplace, Farfetch won't go back into the red in the process. Not a penny over 500 million. I don't know. Are they going to get that 2 million? I don't know. I know. When my parents told me they wouldn't give me a penny over 500 million, it was devastating.

18:24So it does sound like the strength of Farfetch is the boutique relationships, not the brand relationships, although they will need both someday. But I mean, I guess I'm also curious about how this sold by Farfetch experiment plays out, because what if it turns out people don't actually care where their stuff's coming from, as long as they're reasonably sure it's not counterfeit. And Farfetch, as far as I know, has not been accused of selling fake goods. Maybe that works. Maybe this approach actually works better than trying to like coddle all these brands all the time. I think that's a really good point.

18:55This idea of doubling down on the retail partnerships and, you know, the sold by Farfetch being a part of that, because then the brands can, those retailers can upload more inventory and not get in trouble with the brands, you know, again, I think that going down that road, maintaining those relationships will be nearly impossible. So there's like figuring out the balance there. But, you know, I do think that when it comes to luxury, it's not always sort of a volume game alone. It is, it's an art and a science. So I would think moving forward that there needs to be a consideration of like, how do you get the best inventory, make sure your retail partners are happy, but also make sure these top brands that want to work directly with you are happy as well.

19:39Because I think, you know, where luxury is right now, it is so splintered between the value customers, you know, the customers that are price conscious and the ultra wealthy shoppers that are like driving the industry. And who knows how long that's going to last? Who knows that this has been actual turning point in luxury and that's the thing that Farfetch is going to have to consider as it moves forward. Also, by the way, I feel like the story of a brand or a company being acquired, they're being tensioned for the next year or two with the acquirer and then the existing teams is not new news.

20:11Talk to us about how this can or if it can turn around, that they would find more alignment, their synergy, Brian's favorite words. What? Hey, hey, that slander that is libel. Brian loves jargon words like synergy. Oh, my God. But is there hope that there will be synergy and alignment down the road? Can they get this back right? So I think that's a really great point. Again, going back to the idea of the deal and how this even came about, you know, Coupang, you know, executives said when they acquired Farfetch, they wanted Farfetch to help them grow their online luxury presence. and the pairing actually wasn't off base.

20:52You know, Imran, our founder and editor, and she actually penned an op-ed when everything was going down with Farfetch looking for a buyer that Amazon should buy them. You know, and the logic there was that a company with great operational prowess, you know, what makes its logistics power with Farfetch's foothold in luxury, and that could be a powerful thing. And it seemed like that's what Coupang set out to do. So optimistically speaking, maybe Coupang just learns the ins and outs of luxury and these are just, you know, growing pains. And they actually start to sort of bend to the will of the industry and allow Farfetch to invest in the things it needs to invest in now that they're getting them to profitability.

21:30So I think that we can see synergy down the line if this is a matter of couping, putting down the hammer, saying we're making all these cuts and maybe we're cutting some of that muscle, but we can rebuild that muscle once we get Farfetch to profitability and learn what luxury is about and learn how to cater to that market. I will take the other side of that bet. I think we've seen with Amazon or various Amazon-like companies don't tend to bend to others' will. That's not really how they work. And that's been one of the reasons Amazon has struggled so much to break into luxury. I'll also note that when Amazon didn't invest in Farfetch'd, they turned around and invested in Saks and Neiman Marcus instead.

22:07And we've seen that that hasn't actually, that hasn't exactly been a smooth transition either. It has not led to Amazon becoming a luxury powerhouse and actually going through. Sure. You can always say yet until. And also it's good to note that we can joke around and say like, you know, Kupang is South Korea's version of Amazon, but it's not Amazon. You know, like they have a different philosophy and they may not have the same hangups that Amazon has. And they may be a little bit more flexible once they get, once they see their position of like getting far Farfetch profitably actually working and saying, well, what's next?

22:43What's next is growth and how do we get there? And how we get there is not what was being done before. You know, you talk to a lot of your sources or people that work at Farfetch that were giving you sort of exclusive tidbits, little scoops on how these conversations were going, how teams are being let go or, you know, maybe mismanaged. Who's the voice in Farfetch London that's telling people and couping what needs to happen? Is that, are there conversations happening to make this alignment, this synergy? come together? As of now, it's couping. This is all coming from couping. This is coming from Bomb Kim, the chief executive.

23:17It does feel like that's just customary. We have to emphasize that Farfetch was deep in the mud. It was near bankruptcy. So a new owner is going to come in and be incredibly heavy handed and incredibly aggressive. And obviously, there's just going to be friction when that happens. But if the former leaders were not steering the ship correctly, the new leader has to come in and say, well, I'm going to take the reins here. So that's what's happening now, but that's not to say that's going to continue to happen down the line. Although that's an interesting point though, that they haven't appointed some ex-fashion editor or some known quantity.

23:55Ex-fashion editor? Do you want that job? They haven't appointed a recognizable face to be the face of the company. And I think that that might be one of the sort of easy wins they could have would just be to have someone with relationships with, you know, the fashion industry running point on all this. Totally. And I mean, I'm keeping my tab, this is maybe the first of a gazillion stories on this. I'm keeping my ears to the ground. I'm keeping, you know, my sources close and like, I'm going to keep seeing how these, how this development goes, you know, are they going to make that marquee hire of someone who is a fashion industry staple, a luxury industry staple who can come in and like help Farfetch develop or redevelop that high touch, you know, experience for those luxury customers that they so desperately need to get on board, you know, with shopping with them right now.

24:47If you want to provide that information to Malik, it's malik.morris at businessoffashion.com. Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for buying. Yes, it is. Is that the positive note we want to end on? I meant that there is hope that there There are strategies that they can employ, whether it's hiring a fashion editor that is not Brian Baskin, whether it's just getting past this first$500 million investment, not a penny more, and really starting to think about hoarding these brands more. And then lastly, I think what they do for boutiques is so important. I think people are invested in seeing the company get it right.

25:22I agree. And I absolutely think that, you know, it's a to be seen. I don't think all hope is lost. I just think that there's just a lot to be taken into consideration to make this work. But again, I do think that Farfetch doubling down on those relationships with retail partners is a good first step. I think we're probably headed somewhere in the middle of these two timelines where Farfetch isn't going to go away, but it's just going to kind of slide into irrelevance. There's a lot of like luxury sites out there that sort of sell everything, but they don't really have a brand of their own. They're not really a destination.

25:54they just pop up in Google Shopping and you go, I guess I'll buy it at this random site. And I think Farfetch might just kind of be headed in that direction. Sliding into irrelevance. Every time I try to end a set of positive, Ryan gives us one of those sliding into irrelevance. But I mean, it is a possibility. It's reality. It is absolutely a possibility. You know, I think the thing that I love about being a reporter and like covering this industry is that I personally am rooting for the industry. I want this industry to do well. I am also a consumer. So I want these marketplaces to exist and I want them to exist at their highest capacity.

26:29But if they don't, then they don't. And if they don't rise to the occasion, then that's just what it is. And again, it is a possibility. That's exactly it. I think it's not about rooting for a business to succeed or fail. It's saying, are they offering something to the brands and boutiques on their platform that will help them reach customers? And if they're doing that in a way that works for everyone and is beneficial to everyone, great. And if not, someone else will come along and do it better. Agreed. Malik, thank you so much for joining us today. This was quite an interesting and riveting conversation.

26:59I agree. Thank you so much for having me. It's always a pleasure chatting with you both. Please be sure to check out Malik's article, Inside Coupang's Tug of War with Farfetch, at businessoffashion.com. These and other stories are available to BOF professional subscribers only, and you can find the links in the episode notes. You've been listening to The Debrief, produced by Olivia Davies, mixed and mastered by Eric Bria. I'm Sheena Butler-Young. And I'm Brian Baskin. We'll be back next week with a new episode. Thank you so much for joining us and be sure to follow us wherever you get your podcasts.