2. Discount Retail - the high fashion kind
Recently, stores like hautelook.com and ideeli.com have cropped up allowing regular joes access to fashions usually found at Barney's and Neiman Marcus. These online shops carry entirely different merchandise than what you would find in a TJ Maxx or Ross type discount outlets.
Their process is to require all users to sign-up to gain access to the sales. Additionally, most of the items are "limited time only" so the preview emails and announcements of when items go on sale are key to beat the your friends to the good deals.
The economy has been difficult lately so I can see how these retailers would have been affected by the downturn. Their items are a serious discount from their original price, but still not in the price range that would appeal to a wide selection of buyers. Personally, I feel like all the items are things I would still need to save up for, but with the limited availability I'm torn.
On the other hand, these stores really know their marketing. Not only do they get all their customer's info in order to have them view the merchandise, but they have nailed the scarcity concept and keeping their public waiting. Their biggest asset is that with the limited time for sales, consumers buy items very quickly. I like to place items in my cart and re-visit them until I've made a decision, but there is no way to do that with these sites. They also have a daily record of what items sell the best so they know which items are more valuable. Other stores have to carry alot of pesky inventory and wait weeks to know what people like. This quick turnover model allows them to know same day what was a popular item. Being a fashion buyer just got easier.
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