Biggest digital portal for top Italian brands hits SA

It might not have the allure of meandering through the cobbled streets of Rome or high-end boutiques of Milan, but local shoppers will now be able to buy from 150 luxury Italian boutiques through Italist, the world's largest online shopping portal dedicated to selling Italy's top-end fashion.

CEO Diego Abba said people would be able to shop at some of Italy's most beautiful stores, which have only ever been accessible to South Africans travelling overseas.

These included high-end brands Balenciaga, Givenchy, Gucci, Missoni, Céline and Bottega Veneta as well as current designers like Off-White, Golden Goose and Mary Katrantzou, selected from top luxury multibrand stores.

Abba, who was in South Africa last week to announce the company's presence in the country, said the online portal provided consumers with access to limited-edition offerings that were almost impossible to find anywhere else except in the physical stores in a few cities in Italy. Products would be priced the same as in the luxury boutiques.

"Seeing how South Africa and Africa have one of the largest potential e-commerce markets, coupled with the ever-growing love for designer products, we saw this as an opportunity to establish our presence in South Africa to fill the gap in the online market for luxury products."

Italist launched two years ago and is available in more than 85 countries with more than 750 luxury brands on the platform. The company plans to add new design elements to its portal to best mimic the shopping experience of being in the store.

Abba, a keynote speaker at the Seamless e-commerce conference in Cape Town last week, added: "While traditional retailers are feeling the heat with shoppers' visits to retail stores declining, online retail is thriving. Stats show that retail sales through digital channels are cannibalising in-store sales."

He said the key advantages of the physical store were for a consumer to have the ability to feel and try the merchandise. But on the digital front "it is very difficult to substitute the advantage of global reach of buying online and the [ease] of finding data on products and peer reviews, to make the best purchase decision".

The luxury goods market is growing, but at a low rate. Deloitte's latest report on the Global Powers of Luxury Goods, released last year, focuses on the 2014 financial year and showed 3.6% growth year on year.

Jolandi Grace, a partner at Deloitte, said the market in Africa was still small compared with the rest of the world, but many luxury brands were expanding into Africa "with South Africa as a springboard, if one looks at the quite large entry of luxury brands into our market over the last couple of years".

She said there was room for such a portal in South Africa "if one considers changing consumer behaviour. There is an increasing use of digital devices, and the influence of social media is high."

Grace highlighted the importance of the millennial consumer who preferred multiple channels for their shopping .

"Another important factor is the strength of the currency - our latest report indicated some 40% of spending on luxury goods happens during travelling and hence South Africa's growth as a tourist destination will play a crucial role in the potential growth of the luxury market."

She said the success of a portal such as Italistdepended on its commitment to reliable and speedy deliveries, especially for travellers moving from one point to another.

The portal has had about 1,000 customers since it launched in the middle of this month, with an average initial spend of $800 (about R10,000) per customer.