Net-a-Porter Jumps from Red to Black With Record Sales

Following the e-tailer’s recent merger with Italian competitor Yoox back in March, it turns out that Net-a-Porter was profitable in its own right for the past fiscal year. Yoox picked the right time to join forces with thus-far profitless Net-a-Porter, which just announced a 22.8% rise in its revenues to £65million in the year to March 31st (securing an £11million profit). Now this may only be equivalent to a ‘meagre’ £1.8million net gain, but it is quite the improvement on the past few years. The luxury platform has been costing large chunks of money (think millions) to its parent company, Swiss-run Richemont, since the latter bought them out in 2010.

The Net-a-Porter Group which is made up of Net-a-Porter, The Outnet and Mr Porter, has seen an increase in monthly unique visitors, running up 10.7 million views while their total customer base (people who have bought items in the past 12 months) grew from 698,000 to 887,000 — a generous 27% increase.

This could not have come at a better time for the Richemont Group if you happen to remember our recent article about the company’s desire to shore up alliances amongst fashion digital luxury platforms. The Swiss conglomerate still owns a 50% stake in Net-a-Porter which will soon take on the name of Yoox Net-a-Porter Group when the merger completes in September 2015.

Net-a-Porter SS14 advertisement

Natalie Massenet, founder and executive chairperson of the Net-a-Porter Group commented, “In today’s world where technological innovation is rapidly changing consumer habits and lifestyles, success in business will no longer be driven solely by the forces of competition but by the power of collaboration; collaboration between retailers and brands, and collaboration between and among consumers. This is where the future of fashion lies, a future we at Net-a-Porter will continue to create.”

It is noteworthy that mobile and tablet sales increased by 46% and now account on average for 40% of the group's overall sales, something made more accessible thanks to the recent launch of Net-a-Porter’s social shopping network, The Net Set.