Are you ready for "Extreme Retailing" ?
E-commerce has evolved more in the last 12 months than in the last 12 years, with a combination of entertainment, game mechanics, and innovative shopping models.
According to Megan Conniff from the US National Retail Federation's big blog, here are 3 ongoing trends:
1. Deals and discounts (retailmenot.com)
2. Urgency retailing (woot.com)
3. Private shopping clubs (venteprivee.com and its hundreds of copycats worldwide)
And here are 5 upcoming trends:
1. Local discovery & promotion (groupon.com)
2. Mobile empowerment
3. Community and crowdsourcing (myfab.com)
4. Mass customization
5. Game Mechanics/entertainment commerce (swoopo.com)
I so agree with Megan (and with Jochen and Jason from Exciting Commerce, a recommended read by the way...)!
Bonus: here's a video of Joshua Goldman's presentation at the Retail Innovation & Marketing Conference, explaining swoopo.com's killer commerce model:
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
E-commerce innovations: extreme retailing
Friday, February 5, 2010
Venteprivée.com 2009 revenues and 2010 projections
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Can you make the cut? Luxury brand launches: online and by invitation exclusively
Von Rosen one ups closed-community shopping websites...
This 1-year old German luxury fashion label has launched a special business: it's online, with limited collections, and by invitation only.
If David Von Rosen has not invited you, well... you can send him a request, telling him who you are and what you do, and he will decide if you're worth being one of his customers...
“All customers have the right to choose a brand,” Von Rosen told Style.com. “We wanted to turn the perspective around and choose our customers. We don’t want money as the only hurdle to exclusivity. Yes, we’ve turned down people who’ve applied, like a good club would.”
A few figures:
- 10,000 requests since starting the site a year ago,
- has granted access to only 1,500 people,
- has sold about 4,000 items, average price of a sweater is €450, or about $675, shipping not included.
How's that for exclusivity?
I sent him a request... Will I make the cut? And can you?
UPDATE:
Hey I made it! :)
Here's the email I received in answer to my membership request:
"Dear Michael S. Levy,
You have asked for access to VONROSEN. Thank you for your interest.
Our customers rely on a high standard of exclusivity. In the interest of our existing customer base, we are only able to grant access to a limited number of enquirers.
Unfortunately, we are not acquainted personally. However, you have us interested by your professional background and the information that we have found about you. We believe that you fit VONROSEN.
VONROSEN brings you the best quality and timeless-urban designs. The VONROSEN-signet is individually engraved with your monogram. As a fashion label from Berlin, we produce exclusively in Italy and Germany. Also, you will never encounter any sales or discounts at VONROSEN. For all orders, including gifts and/or gift certificate purchases, we receive before Dec. 31, we offer you an extended money back guarantee (send back by Jan. 14., 2010). With code XXXXXXXX you can now log on at vonrosen.com.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Welcome to VONROSEN!
Yours Sincerely,
David"
Man, I feel so hip right now... See you later, I have some shopping to attend to :)
Thursday, November 26, 2009
ebay forays into physical retail and private sales
eBay announced plans to open "pop-up" boutiques in 12 cities across the USA in an effort to service holiday shopping.
Pop-up retail is IT right now...
Its first ephemeral store popped up on November 20, in a 5,500-square foot Manhattan location, and will close its doors on November 29.
Fashion Vault is open to all eBay members and offers free US shipping. As usual, sales events last for two to three days only, and quantities are limited. Currently on sale: DKNY.
Monday, November 2, 2009
E-commerce deals update: Zappos, Ruelala.com
It has been a Happy Halloween for Zappos and RueLaLa :)
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
French private shopping club Vente-privée.com, an e-commerce European success worth USD 1.5 billion
From Techcrunch Europe, an update on private shopping clubs in the US (a.k.a. closed-community shopping websites), on the interest from e-commerce power players on this awesome business model... and on the mother of all private shopping clubs, Vente Privée.
"TechCrunch Europe thus understands, from some very good sources, that Gilt, Amazon and eBay are all actively looking at acquisitions in the European private shopping club space. The price for Vente Privée alone is being talked about in terms of a $1.5 billion sale. Some sources even put the figure at between $2 billion and $4 billion.
One VC I spoke to said Vente Privee was “very attractive” to the big ecommerce beasts like Amazon and eBay, and a roll-up of these types of clubs is potentially in the offing across Europe. Another said “It would be a good move – depending on price – from either Amazon or eBay.”
Read the whole article here.
Friday, September 25, 2009
Gilt Groupe CEO Susan Lyne Interview at Shop.org
Susan Lyne talks about why the Gilt Groupe website is so addictive to shoppers, how retail is just repackaged entertainment, and announces a new venture...
Read it all here.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Gilt Groupe Raises $40 Million At $400 Million Valuation
The US copycat of French private sales powerhouse venteprivee.com has just signed a term sheet to raise an extra $40m, valuating the company at $400m (Source: Silicon Alley Insider).
Gilt Groupe announced that it had $25m revenue in 2008, should have about $150m in 2009, and projected over $500m revenue for 2010.
The company is said to be cash-positive for three months now.
The private sales model is booming in major markets, benefiting from the economic downturn where consumers are looking for deals more than ever and where brands need to get rid of their bigger than ever excess inventory faster than ever.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Shopping clubs are hot: Brands4friends.de raises €10M (via TheNextWeb.com)
German shopping club Brands4Friends.de has raised a €10 million round of funding. It’s their series C, led by Partech International. Some old friends from previous rounds joined them: Mangrove Capital Partners and Holtzbrinck Ventures both chipped in. In these rough economic times, such a large boost in an e-commerce site is quite spectacular.
Yet when you read Brands4Friends’ story, the financial backing makes complete sense.
The full story here: Shopping clubs are hot: Brands4friends.de raises €10MAlso see http://www.pehub.com/24601/brands4friends-raises-e10-million/
