YNAP gears up for Cyber Weekend as self-gifting and hard luxury are expected to drive sales

Yoox Net-A-Porter Group (YNAP) is gearing up for the peak pre-Christmas online shopping spree, Cyber Weekend, and says it expects self-gifting of hard luxury items such as fine jewellery, watches and party wear to be a key sales driver.

The online luxury group expects orders to peak at around one every two seconds during Cyber Weekend and is ramping up capacity at it eight distribution centres to cope with demand while each of its businesses has special events and content to drive sales.

In the UK, which the group says starts its Christmas shopping earlier than other markets, NET-A-PORTER and MR PORTER will host an invitation-only two-day pop-up Gift Shop experience in London, showcasing curated gift ideas and the most sought-after pieces from the hottest designers, for its EIPs (Extremely Important People).

The two businesses have recently added to their hard luxury line-up in fine jewellery and watches in response to demand with NET-A-PORTER having recently added Chopard, Boucheron and Piaget while recent fine watch launches from MR PORTER include Tag Heuer, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Panerai. Prices range up to £94,000.

“At this time of year we see a flurry of gift buying, but self-purchase still remains strong. Existing customers are more engaged than ever over Cyber Weekend and it's a great time of year for new customers to discover our incredible edit and our best-in-class service," said president In-season at YNAP Alison Loehnis.

Off-season business THE OUTNET will host events in multiple markets including the UK, US, France, Germany, the Middle East, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia, showcasing a curated gift selection as well as offering dressing tips for the festive season. While YOOX has teamed up with Google for an innovative marketing campaign featuring 15-second videos on Youtube, which are personalised to the user (they will not see the video again unless they purchase the item on the spot).