Global luxury goods ecommerce platform Farfetch is preparing for a stock market IPO in the United States.
The business was created in 2007 by Portuguese entrepreneur José Neves as a marketplace connecting more than 700 luxury boutiques for the world’s most prestigious fashion houses with affluent customers. It does not hold stock, but takes a cut of each sale made by the boutiques listed on its platform.
The company is headquartered in the fashionable and tech-savvy East London enclave of Shoreditch, and employs 2,700 people world-wide.
Farfetch added luxury watches to its line-up in May this year with an initial portfolio of watch brands including Bell & Ross, Girard-Perregaux, Tag Heuer, Ulysse Nardin and Zenith.
A fine jewellery department, introduced on the same day as the watch area, offers pieces from Chopard, David Yurman, De Beers, Pomellato and Tiffany & Co.
According to Forbes, Farfetch has reached more than 2.3 million consumers in 190 countries since it was created.
In 2017, around one million customers placed nearly $2 million orders with an average basket size of $620. Revenues in 2017 topped $386 million, and sales through the first half of this year are running 55% ahead of last.
Like any self-respecting ecommerce platform, Farfetch has never made a profit, posting a loss of $112 million last year, and on course to widen that deficit in 2018.
Despite these financial challenges, analysts think the IPO could value Farfetch at more than $5 billion.
