LONDON, U.K. [22] April 2020 – FARFETCH (NYSE: FTCH), the global platform for the luxury fashion industry, today publishes its first annual Conscious Luxury Trends Report looking at how luxury consumers are shopping more responsibly. FARFETCH is also launching an enhanced version of its Fashion Footprint Tool, in partnership with IOF.earth which allows consumers to easily understand the impact of their fashion choices.
FARFETCH's Conscious Luxury Trends Report finds that customer behaviour on the platform changed significantly in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic with a surge in
luxury customers choosing to shop more consciously and brands and boutiques on FARFETCH responding to rising consumer demand by consolidating and increasing their
commitments to improve their impact on the planet. FARFETCH uses a set of independently backed criteria to qualify what it classifies as Conscious products on the
platform. For products to be Conscious they must adhere to one of the following criteria: be made of independently recognised or certified materials (e.g. organic, ecycled and upcycled fabrics, low impact cellulosic materials, etc.), have been created via a certified production process, be pre-owned or belong to a brand that scores well with ethical rating agency Good on You.
Key findings from 2020 include:
- Consumers are choosing to shop more responsibly across the world - Mexico experienced the strongest growth globally in Conscious shopping with +341% year-on-year growth in Conscious GMV 2019/2020; Asian countries are demonstrating a forward-thinking approach to brands, often adopting emerging Conscious brands before the rest of the world
- Consumer awareness is driving transformation - the sale of Conscious products grew 3.4x faster than the marketplace average over 2020 driven by FARFETCH's broader offering and increased consumer interest; traffic to Conscious pages on FARFETCH.com quadrupled year-on-year and following the pandemic there has been a dramatic rise in the use of the Sustainability filter on FARFETCH.com
- Circular fashion initiatives are resonating with customers - customers are increasingly utilizing services that help them extend the life of their clothes; FARFETCH’S Second Life resale service grew 527% YoY whilst our donations service grew 662%. Sales of and views of Pre-owned items also saw huge growth.
- Boutiques and brands are taking action to meet consumer demand - small luxury brands including Alighieri, Bode and Veja, are leading the charge in terms of Conscious practice; established luxury brands including Burberry, Gucci and Prada have launched successful Conscious collections.
FARFETCH has also updated its Fashion Footprint Tool through a partnership with IOF.earth to enable customers to see the environmental savings of more sustainable versions of materials compared to standard ones, so helping them shop more sustainably. The new tool also includes a short fact per material to cover some of the wider fashion sustainability issues, for example microplastics. In addition the tool allows customers to see the potential environmental savings of incorporating pre-owned purchases into their wardrobes.
You can access the full report here: stories.farfetch.com/consciousluxurytrends
Thomas Berry, Director of Sustainable Business, FARFETCH, said:
“We're delighted to be launching our first annual report exploring how luxury consumers are shopping more consciously and how the world’s leading brands and boutiques are responding to these changes. 2020 saw a rapid acceleration of the move online and, as our report finds, a surge in consumers choosing to shop more positively.
2020 was a busy year at FARFETCH as we launched our ambitious, long-term commitments through our Positively FARFETCH 2030 goals, increased our stock of conscious products, and scaled our initiatives that support our customers with circular services like FARFETCH Second Life and FARFETCH Donate. Our updated Fashion Footprint Tool is the latest of our initiatives to enable customers to make more informed decisions on how they shop and the environmental impact they have."
José Neves, Founder, CEO and Chairman of FARFETCH, said:
“As a platform for the luxury industry we are uniquely positioned to enable positive change in many different ways. We want to be the platform for good in luxury, one that enables and empowers everyone from our brand and boutique partners and customers to the broader luxury sector to think, act and choose positively.
2020 highlighted more than ever the importance of using our global platform to be an enabler of positive change in the industry and we made significant progress across each of our five Positively FARFETCH pillars – Cleaner, Conscious, Circular, Inclusive and Changing. Our new Conscious Luxury Trends Report and updated Fashion Footprint Tool are the next steps in meeting our long-term ambition to enable positive change in, the luxury sector and consumer behaviours."