The e-tailer, which is part of Richemont-owned Yoox Net-a-Porter Group (YNAP), is expanding its operating model to incorporate a marketplace platform to sit alongside its existing wholesale business.

It’s a shift towards the business model favoured by rival Farfetch, which gained ground over the course of the pandemic as YNAP floundered.

Its parent Richemont has been flirting with its competitor in response. It invested $550 million in Farfetch in November 2020. Late last year announced it was in “advanced” talks to sell a minority stake of its loss-making YNAP operation to Farfetch as part of a broader deal between the two entities. Farfetch confirmed the talks, but said there was no guarantee an agreement between them would be reached.

Yoox said the launch of marketplace will help it reach its long-term goal to boost the product volume on its platform to surpass the one million mark. It will broaden out Yoox’s offering to span over 150,000 items across 700 brands.

Beyond bolstering product offering, Yoox is also betting that Marketplace will help to strengthen its relationships with brand partners. While the proposition is currently only operational in Europe, there are plans to expand the model into the US, Middle Eastern, North Africa and Japanese markets in the future.

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Richemont in ‘Advanced Talks’ With Farfetch on YNAP Spin-Out

The Cartier owner has been looking for options to turn around or deconsolidate the loss-making e-commerce division. Farfetch could take a major role in providing technology for Richemont brands as part of the deal.