Feb 3, 2025
"With GaiaSuite, We Simplify Back-Office Technology" Diaa Elyaacoubi
Diaa Elyaacoubi is a fashion tech entrepreneur with 25+ years of experience. She founded GaiaSuite, a SaaS platform that helps e-commerce businesses manage their business by bringing product data, marketing, sales, and customer interactions into one place.
Tell us about your early days as a computer engineer at the dawn of the Internet.
"I started my career as an engineer in the 2000s, during the Internet and telecommunications boom. This was a pivotal time, especially with the European Union’s deregulation of the sector. Companies like SFR and Bouygues Telecom emerged, followed by a wave of new players.
At Cegetel, I worked in a team that designed networks, offers, pricing models, and business strategies for both B2C and B2B markets. It was an incredible experience to help launch the first free Internet services. We knew that everything we had known before was about to change, opening the door to limitless possibilities." Diaa Elyaacoubi
How did you transition from tech to the luxury industry?
"No matter the industry, global tech giants are rarely French. While we have exceptional talent and expertise, ambition and political drive are often lacking. I have always been fascinated by Asia, particularly China, for its leadership in tech. To understand this better, I spent eight years traveling back and forth, immersing myself in e-commerce and customer journey strategies - both digital and physical.
I discovered a highly innovative approach with endless opportunities: live shopping, community-driven shopping, social selling, and more. Everything is designed to enhance platform efficiency and innovation.
In the U.S., companies like Meta and Amazon have successfully built marketplace platforms. These reach massive audiences and seamlessly convert them into transactions.
In contrast, France was lagging behind. Before the COVID crisis, online sales accounted for less than 10% of total purchases—two decades after the Internet’s arrival. This was clear proof that digital had never been a core part of brand strategies.
France may not be a leader in e-commerce innovation, but it remains the global center of luxury. Despite this, the industry struggles with international distribution." Diaa Elyaacoubi
What led you to invest in Monnier Paris?
Before investing in Monnier Paris, I identified two major challenges. First, the luxury, fashion, and lifestyle sectors were technologically under-equipped, despite their immense economic power. The industry was fragmented—major groups absorbed innovation but rarely drove it, while mid-sized brands were often too conservative.
Second, France lacked a truly global e-commerce platform. The UK had Farfetch (now owned by South Korea’s Coupang), MatchesFashion (Frasers Group), and Net-a-Porter (Richemont, soon to be acquired by MyTheresa in early 2025). Germany had MyTheresa. Italy had Luisa Via Roma. In France, we had 24S (LVMH), Galeries Lafayette, and Printemps. Diaa Elyaacoubi
Given the technological lag in French e-commerce platforms, you acquired Monnier Paris?
Buying Monnier Paris in 2020 allowed me to save valuable time. Building a platform with 180 high-end brands from scratch today would be an enormous challenge. Monnier already had strong brand partnerships and, more importantly, generated over two-thirds of its revenue internationally.
After acquiring Monnier, I completely overhauled and simplified the platform’s technology. I treated it as a real-world laboratory to better understand the complexities of e-distribution and social selling, including live shopping, the metaverse, and cryptocurrencies.
Today, social media platforms are primarily audience-building tools. However, in the near future, they will become transactional platforms. As the number of customer touchpoints continues to grow, we are entering a new era of e-commerce. To succeed, brands need agile tools that automate tasks and support a fully omnichannel strategy - seamlessly integrating physical stores, websites, and marketplaces.
Beyond selling fashion accessories, what is your broader business strategy?
Monnier Paris remains a leader in luxury e-commerce in France. However, it has primarily served as a testing ground for identifying the significant technology gaps in luxury and lifestyle e-distribution, especially at an international scale.
In parallel with Monnier, we developed GaiaSuite - a software solution designed to help brands improve efficiency, drive growth, and boost profitability.
How does the GaiaSuite spin-off address the needs of an omnichannel retail market?
We want to be the leading technology partner for luxury brands, helping them become more agile. Our mission is to simplify back-office technology and migrations by offering ready-to-use solutions. These solutions place business goals at the core of back-office processes.
"GaiaSuite provides real-time view of sales"
GaiaSuite features intuitive interfaces that provide a unified, real-time view of sales. At the same time, it allows brands to maintain control over pricing, marketing, and product presentation. In short, we offer brands, retailers, marketplaces, and marketing agencies a transition from traditional wholesale to an e-concession model - a retail approach where brands sell directly through a third-party platform.
This is an English translation of the original article published by FashionUnited France here.