Alibaba invests in Farfetch to conquer the online luxury market The trade deal could change the look of luxury retail in China

The luxury online retail market might represent a strategic asset for online shopping titans like Amazon and Alibaba. At the same time, however, luxury customers are unwilling to buy their high fashion brands on a platform like Amazon, which, despite the efforts, like the partnership with the CFDA and with big names of the industry, failed in the attempt of becoming a luxury shopping destination. Luxury customers want an exclusive retail experience even when buying online, and this poses a number of problems that many e-shopping giants have tried to solve in vain in recent years. The first that could succeed in deciphering the formula of online luxury retail is the Chinese titan Alibaba which, according to Jing Daily sources, is in talks with Farfetch for a joint venture on Chinese territory. 

Both Farfetch and Alibaba, in short, represent the cutting edge with regard to online shopping. If the London-based company has cultivated a holistic approach to the culture and lifestyle that surrounds fashion, also organizing specific releases and organizing localized events, Alibaba has managed to conquer the most important and strong luxury market in the world, the Chinese one precisely, and although the way forward could still be long, this new deal with Farfetch could represent a great step towards its final goal.