Farfetch Buys London Boutique to Turn Into a 'Store of the Future'

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E-commerce site Farfetch is famous for revolutionizing online shopping for over 300 independent luxury boutiques across the globe, and now it just bought its own brick-and-mortar fashion boutique. The Wall Street Journal reports that Farfetch purchased renowned London shop Browns, with a plan to turn it into a laboratory of sorts to test out all kinds of retail technology. The idea of buying Browns came about when Farfetch, recently valued at $1 billion, formed its "Store of the Future" innovation division.

"We want to be the pioneers," Farfetch founder Jose Neves told WSJ, while stating that he doesn't want to change the DNA of Browns. Farfetch plans to bring new technology to the London boutique, like RFID and NFC chips in clothing for easy tracking, mobile payment technology, and perhaps even a program that uses artificial intelligence to predict what customers might buy depending on factors like the weather.

Photo: Browns