Lyst investment latest sign of luxury’s digital push
Online fashion search platform Lyst last week closed its latest funding round, which was led by luxury giant LVMH and included other investors.
The investment, which Reuters reported was between US$67 and US$134 million, is the latest sign of luxury retail’s growing focus on e-commerce.
LVMH, which owns Luis Vuitton and Moet Hennessy and a string of luxury subsidiaries, including Christian Dior, Céline, Bulgari and Guerlain, last year launched its own multi-brand online store, 24Sevres.com, after closing a previous e-commerce platform, eLuxury, in 2009.
The move marks the latest push from luxury retail into the e-commerce space, with Richemont’s acquisition of Yoox Net-A-Porter completing earlier this month.
Lyst told Reuters it would use the latest funding to improve its current offering and expand into new regions and languages.
Lyst’s co-founder and CEO Chris Morton told the publication that 60 per cent of the platform’s business comes from the US, but it is planning to expand into Europe and Asia in the next 18 months.
The search platform connects users to brands’ and retailers’ own e-commerce sites and earns a commission on every purchase that is made.
Existing investors include venture capital firms Accel, Balderton, Draper Esprit, 14W and a US hedge fund, according to Morton’s statement to Reuters.
LVMH’s digital chief Ian Rogers, formerly an Apple music executive, will sit on Lyst’s board following the group’s investment.
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