Richemont's digital chief to take over as YNAP CEO

MILAN (Reuters) - Luxury group Richemont's digital chief, Geoffroy Lefebvre, will become chief executive of the group's online retailer Yoox Net-a-Porter (YNAP) in January, replacing the platform's founder Federico Marchetti.

Marchetti, who is widely regarded in the industry as pioneer in the sale of top-end fashion and luxury goods on the internet, will stay on as YNAP chairman to ensure a smooth transition, YNAP said on Monday.

Online sales have become crucial for retailers during this year's lockdowns linked to the coronavirus pandemic, forcing many high-end labels, which used to be more reticent to sell their products on the web, to double up on their Internet strategy.

E-commerce is set to become the leading channel for luxury purchases by 2025, according to consultancy Bain.

Marchetti founded online retailer Yoox in 2000, then listed it and pushed through a merger with rival Net-a-Porter fifteen years later, before agreeing to a takeover by Cartier owner Richemont in 2018 which valued YNAP at 5.3 billion euros ($6.35 billion).

Lefebvre, currently Group Digital Distribution Director at Richemont, will take the helm on Jan. 4.

($1 = 0.8345 euros)

(Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi; editing by Silvia Aloisi, Kirsten Donovan)