October’s – ‘The Renegade Issue’ – Download Now

Jamie Freed, Global Vice President, Private Client at FARFETCH is the brains behind the strategy for the newly launched pre-order offering that sees the global Marketplace take market share across the industry.

Tell us about your role as Global Vice President, Private Client FARFETCH?

I essentially work with all business areas to develop our strategy for the most engaged and loyal customers at FARFETCH – our private clients. We spend a lot of time scrutinizing every aspect of the customer journey and offering in order to create memorable experiences for the most incredible clients in the world. I’m excited to get out of bed every day knowing that our teams at FARFETCH are working to make a real difference in our customers’ lives.

Your role requires you to understand the differing demographics that exist globally. How has this impacted the decision to launch pre-order?

We conduct customer research to help inform our decision-making, and we really listened to the feedback received from customers all over the world when thinking about what pre-order would look like for FARFETCH. We were encouraged by the fact that so many of our customers told us pre-order was something they wanted. As we hope that many customers will adopt this way of shopping, we decided to create a democratic offering open to all customers.

Farfetch - interview

Which brands were key to having as part of the launch for this concept?

For launch, we wanted to work with brands that are both in high demand from our customers and could work with us on providing a compelling offering early in the season. You’ll soon see new brands joining our pre-order roster and new items continuing to be added from the brands included at launch.

What was the most challenging aspect of this launch and how did you overcome it?

What do you do when clothing isn’t yet available to be bought or shipped and how does that relate to the proposition? The most exciting and challenging part of our launch was thinking through this question in order to reimagine the traditional marketing campaign. Our teams were able to leverage innovation in a digital-only way that was truly meaningful for the industry and the customer.

Long-term, FARFETCH hopes to go one stage further than pre-order in tackling fashion’s sustainability issue, with a made-to-order offering. Can you expand on this?

Sustainability is a major topic for the fashion industry now and we want to ensure we use our strengths and position to be the platform for good. Positively FARFETCH was launched in 2019 and since then we have launched a number of initiatives and pilots. This movement empowers our community to choose positively and as a result of this, we have set ourselves a goal to sell 100% Conscious products by 2030.

One of the big causes of waste in our industry is mismatched supply and demand, which leads to overproduction. A model where pre-order is offered pre-production and applied at scale could help to solve this overproduction problem and work towards reducing waste in the industry.

Do you see particular regions globally adopting this concept and how do you engage those where there is more resistance?

It’s still early, but what’s encouraging is that we’ve seen customers from all areas of the world, both new and loyal, shopping in this way with us. I think that continuing to educate consumers on the benefits of pre-order will help to overcome uncertainty or resistance.

What is the key piece of business advice you would impart to others?

Bring your heart, mind and gut to the table every single day and make sure they’re always included in your decision-making process.

Farfetch - Jamie Freed

How has social media affected the business and which platform has been most useful?

Instagram was the platform we used for our pre-order digital-only influencer campaign. We wanted to collaborate with the FARFETCH Community and build an aesthetic centred around innovative fashion with a futuristic feel. The influencers we worked with were already familiar with the digital fashion space and had a genuine interest in taking part in such an exciting project!

We also worked with a company called DressX to digitise products that will be available for pre-order. DRESSX digitized 20 menswear and 20 womenswear pre-order looks from the latest collections from Off-White, Balenciaga, Palm Angels, Dolce & Gabbana, Khaite, and Nanushka for the launch.

What advice would you give to your younger self starting out?

Perfection is boring, so stop spending your energy on striving for perfection. When you fail, pick yourself up quickly and make time to reflect upon the pain and lessons learned. If you can use failure to your advantage and see it as a growth opportunity, you’ll lead fearlessly.

This is The Renegade Issue, and we see thinking outside the box as a positive thing. Who for you is a renegade or when have you taken this approach to life yourself?

Amanda Gormon – her poem “The Hill We Climb” was a hopeful call for unity and for a nation to heal. She did this with the world watching and didn’t hide from the reality of today and the injustices of the past. She was frank in a way that many would avoid, whilst still touching in a way to move millions

October’s – ‘The Renegade Issue’ – Download Now

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Images: Supplied