Dive Brief:
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Italian fashion luxury e-retail site Yoox S.p.A. has hired Alex Alexander as CIO, the company said.
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Alexander has been working in global retail and financial services IT for several years, most recently as multichannel technology director in the Walmart Global eCommerce technology division of Wal-Mart’s Silicon Valley @Walmart Labs unit. He’s credited with leading the development of such omnichannel innovations as “click and collect” in the U.K. through his work with Wal-Mart and, earlier, at Sainsbury’s.
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Yoox in April also hired Enrico Cavatorta as CFO and corporate officer from Luxottica Group, building its top executive team ahead of its acquisition of luxury e-commerce site Net-a-Porter.
Dive Insight:
Yoox and Net-a-Porter are both e-retail powerhouses that have managed success in the luxury fashion space — a sector of retail that has generally been resistant to e-commerce. With these hires, it seems that the company will continue to pull luxury fashion into the age of omnichannel retail and online shopping.
Net-a-Porter has a strong content component; its magazine, photography and storytelling may be doing some of the work enticing customers online that luxury retailers have traditionally accomplished in stores.
And Net-a-Porter has managed to entice fashion brands, too, like Tom Ford, that have otherwise shied away from online sales beyond accessories or perfume. Meanwhile, Yoox is strong in China, where luxury sales are doing well.
