Net-a-Porter

The Challenge    

Net-a-Porter (NAP) was a pioneer in the luxury sector, launching the first-of-its-kind digital platform for luxury fashion retail. Today however, NAP operates in a crowded marketplace, competing against a range of “look-alike” online competitors such as My Theresa, FarFetch and Moda Operandi, for a niche cohort of high-value luxury customers.

Recognising that they cannot meaningfully differentiate from the competition through product offering or technology alone, NAP looked to once again lead the industry through the development of an innovative customer loyalty strategy, targeted to their highest value “EIP” (“Extremely Important”) customer base.

What We Did  

Research activities combined a broad inquiry into the social and cultural landscape of luxury consumerism, with a focused investigation of high value customer behaviours, values and needs.

We began with expert interviews and trend analysis to review the sociocultural discourses and contemporary themes surrounding fashion and luxury, in tandem with stakeholder interviews and desk research to examine NAP’s business context and competitive landscape.

This context-setting phase was followed by depth interviews with NAP’s high-value EIP customers in New York and LA to explore: customers’ everyday lifestyles, contexts and needs; their transactional, emotional and aspirational experiences and relationships with fashion and luxury, and; behaviours and notions pertinent to concepts of brand “loyalty”.

Result

Research analysis and insights were applied to develop a business innovation strategy to transform NAP from a transactional “promotion-purchase-and- return” retail platform to a comprehensive ecosystem of relevant style services. The strategy was supported by five “loyalty principles,” derived from customer research analysis, that guided the design of a suite of service propositions to realise the strategy and bring it to life.