Farfetch tailors pre-order model to reduce waste
Luxury e-commerce platform Farfetch has partnered a group of high-end brands, including Balenciaga, Off-White and Khaite, to offer a pre-order shopping option to customers.
A total of 10 luxury labels will participate in the initiative, the e-tailer stated. Shoppers can now order looks four weeks before they reach the broader market, it explained, while new previews of upcoming seasons will launch on a monthly basis.
Global vice president of Farfetch’s private client division, Jamie Freed, emphasised that the plan is to eventually evolve the model to a “true pre-production proposition”, meaning that customers’ buying choices will influence the amount of stock produced - and ordered - of each product.
This is intended to help brands manage inventory and, beyond that, minimise waste within the broader industry, Ms Freed (who previously held a senior leadership position with post-catwalk pre-order pioneer Moda Operandi) said.
Expanding on this, she commented: “When we think about what this will evolve into for the longer term, we really think of it as an industry solution, for us to be able to offer a way in which to create a more conscious way of shopping so that our brands can better match supply with real consumer demand.”
Image: Farfetch.
