The online-only luxury retailer plans to invest in technology to improve personalization and update the e-commerce platform for The Outnet.

Yoox Net-a-Porter Group saw healthy double-digit growth in North America, the company’s biggest market, during 2016, the online-only luxury fashion retailer reported Wednesday.

North American revenue totaled 573.9 million euros ($605.5 million) last year, up 14.1% from 503.1 million euros ($530.8 million) in 2015. Total revenue for the group amounted to 1.871 billion euros ($1.974 billion), a 12.4% year-over-year increase from 1.665 billion euros ($1.757 billion).

“In 2016, [Yoox Net-a-Porter] consolidated its leading position with a robust performance and growth in profitability,” CEO Federico Marchetti said in a statement. Yoox merged with Cie. Financiere Richemont SA’s Net-a-Porter in 2015 to create the world’s largest online-only luxury retailer.

Yoox Net-a-Porter, No. 72 in the Internet Retailer 2016 Top 500 Guide and No. 27 in the 2016 Europe 500, says it has made platform upgrades that will improve personalization and targeted marketing capabilities.

The group says it plans to invest 160-170 million euros ($169-179 million) primarily in technology in 2017. Some of the funds will be dedicated to the rollout of a new core e-commerce platform for The Outnet, its off-season discount site, and other online stores that it did not specify. Yoox operates its e-commerce sites on an in-house platform. The Outnet also updated its interface to make it easier for consumers to navigate the site on mobile devices, and it launched its first Android native app. Yoox Net-a-Porter also will push to create a shared global logistics platform.

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In the fourth quarter, Yoox Net-a-Porter’s North American revenue was 172.9 million euros ($182.5 million), up 14.5% from 151.0 million euros ($159.4 million) during the same period in 2015. The growth was driven by the strong performance of the in-season and online flagship stores business lines, the company says. Total Yoox Net-a-Porter revenue for the quarter was 538.2 million euros ($567.8 million), up 11.4% from 483.3 million euros ($510.0 million) in Q4 2015.

The cost of goods sold in fiscal 2016 was 1.138 billion euros ($1.201 billion), leaving Yoox Net-a-Porter with a gross profit of 732.4 million euros ($772.7 million). The figure is an 11.5% increase from the previous year’s 657.0 million euros ($693.1 million) in gross profits.

In the summer of 2016, Yoox Net-a-Porter predicted widening profit margins and anticipated that the debut of its private-label fashions plus the addition of watches and jewelry to its online offerings would boost sales. In November 2016, Yoox Net-a-Porter entered into a 130 million euro ($138 million) joint venture with Mohamed Alabbar, a Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based business tycoon, to tap into the Middle East luxury market.

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For the year ended Dec. 31, Yoox Net-a-Porter also reported:

  • Net income of 69.3 million euros ($73.1 million), a 16.1% increase from 59.7 million euros ($63.0 million) in 2015.
  • Average monthly unique visitors of 28.8 million, up 7.9% from 26.7 million.
  • Active customers—those who have made at least one purchase in the past 12 months—of 2.9 million, a 16.0% increase from 2.5 million.
  • Order volume of 8.4 million, up 18.3% from 7.1 million.
  • Average order value of 334 euros ($352.25), down 5.1% when compared with 352 euros ($371.23) in 2015, which Yoox Net-a-Porter says mainly reflects unfavorable exchange rate fluctuations.

During the next year, Yoox Net-a-Porter says it plans to open an office and distribution center in Dubai and new photo studios and logistics spaces in Italy. A hub slated for Milan will include an automated order storage and retrieval system.

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