Online Shopping Clubs
Recently, I’ve gotten exposed to what seems to be the new trend in online shopping……Seemingly Exclusive, Invitation-only, Shopping Clubs.The concept is pretty simple, and actually pretty smart for the retailers. Everyday they have a ’boutique’ from a handful of designer labels that opens up at a specific time (usually 10am CST). The boutique is basically a collection of wares by a specific label (clothing, shoes, jewelry, home furnishings, etc) that are steeply discounted for a limited time, and in limited quantities. Discounts are usually in the range of 50-70% off. And by limited time, I mean like 1 or 2 days. And limited quantities means most popular sizes, and/or styles sell out within 10 minutes.
If you find something you like, you quickly put it in the cart and hold the item for about 10 minutes. This is particularly clever for the retailers, as the running clock ticks in the corner and basically forces you to make a buying decision quickly. I read an article (which is how I learned about these) that explained this idea solves a major problem online merchants have with customers leaving merchandise hanging around and being abandoned in their virtual shopping carts.
From what I’ve seen the original prices don’t really seem to be marked up (unlike Amazon at times), and the merchandise ranges from common brands to extremely high-end designers. On their site, you can see all the designer that will be featured in a boutique that week. So if you’re looking for something in particular, it probably is worth checking out. However, like other sales sites (think slickdeals.net), you have to be careful and exercise restraint, or you can easily get caught up a whirlwind of great deals. Spending money on things you don’t need, rather than saving money on the things you were planning to buy anyway.
Here’s some links to some of my favorites. You can use my referral code to get the invite….
