YNAP powers the new Montblanc online store – WWD

MILAN — Further strengthening its ties with parent company Compagnie Financière Richemont SA, the Yoox Net-a-porter group will operate Montblanc’s e-commerce platform from this month.

Montblanc will benefit from YNAP’s flexible platform, which allows brands to personalize their sites and market their selections, by connecting the new online store to the brand’s physical stores, serving more than 100 countries. in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Asia.

With active customers now totaling more than 4.3 million, YNAP includes in-season multi-brand online stores Net-a-porter and Mr Porter; off-season multi-brand Yoox and The Outnet, as well as online highlights for designer labels ranging from Giorgio Armani, Balmain, Maison Margiela and Missoni to Valentino. As noted, Armani is the second fashion house to adopt the Next Era model, which was designed by YNAP and first launched in partnership with Valentino in 2017, allowing customers to manage their purchases flexibly and benefit from the everyone’s full potential. canals.

Montblanc’s new online store improves accessibility for visually impaired customers and has been completely redesigned with a mobile-first approach. As noted, over 50% of YNAP sales come from mobile every year. Additionally, customers can take advantage of expanded omnichannel services, including click-and-collect and in-store return, which are being expanded to new countries. YNAP will provide additional services such as engraving and embossing products in its operating network.

Nicolas Baretzki, CEO of Montblanc, touted the “unparalleled shopping experience” that the partnership with YNAP will provide. “From the beginning of this journey, we have aimed to share Montblanc’s rich history and design ethos with every customer leaving a memorable impression,” Baretzki said.

Francesca Tranquilli, President of Online Flagship Stores at YNAP, said the group shares Montblanc’s “vision to pass on the house’s rich history in craftsmanship, to further enhance Montblanc’s customer offering and to ‘bring new dimensions to their already strong digital platform’.

As noted, Johann Rupert, chairman and founder of Richemont, home of brands such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, sees online as a way to better meet customer needs, and said online platforms have helped alleviate loss of tourism sales and forced store closures during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We’ve always been interested in how technology can help us. We see online as a way to meet customer needs. We believe in new retail, which means the customer can get what they want, when they want it — all the time. It will increasingly migrate to online,” Rupert said in May, discussing Richemont’s 2019-20 results.