It doesn’t quite fit perfectly; the body it was made for and the desire behind the figure that purchased it may vary slightly. Its an idea that seems to have legs and some sizzle. Take last years very high end designer fashions and sell them at a deep discount the following season on the web. We are still talking about $2000 dresses in some cases, but lots of cheap stuff too. But, for the company it beats selling them to discounters and having the value of the brand in the hands of outlets that can only lower the prestige of the label. There is a big difference between the runway in Paris and say main street in Des Moines, but it can be bridged….
Phair:Mobile commerce lends itself particularly well to the discount world because there is an element of scarcity and items sell out fast. Customers want to see products when they want and not just when they’re at their computer – otherwise they might miss out.
The now-infamous £1/$1 Outnet sale, which lasted a total of somewhere between 0 seconds and 23 minutes before crashing/burning/selling out, depending on whom you talk to, and enraged dedicated online deal-hunters with server crashes in the UK and a 6:30 a.m. eastern time, 3:30 a.m. Pacific time start in the US, was a total sell-out, says Outnet director Stephanie Phair. But, Phair says, they’re sorry they disappointed some of their fans… read more: http://racked.com/archives/2010/04/16/the-outnet-responds-to-disgruntled-and-disappointed-shoppers.php
…..Nineteen months ago at the time of its launch, The Outnet was better known as Net-a-Porter’s cheap and cheerful younger sister. Now, it seems, the discount fashion retailer is all grown up, and getting an extreme makeover.
Kristin Young:This year was filled with more fashion faux pas than any of the aforementioned could rack up in a lifetime. Style missteps are an astounding feat these days when you consider that celebrities have an army of stylists, fashion designers panting for exposure and, one would think, a mirror or two. Of course, at the top of the trashy heap is Lady Gaga and her meat dress she debuted at the MVA's. Aside from assaulting our senses and pushing animal cruelty in our face, she wants us to feel sorry for her because she feels like a piece of meat? Venus Williams was another grand slam in the disaster department. She showed up to play at the French open in red and black lingerie. Kinda cute idea. Problem was the skin-tight shorts she wore under the getup were the same color as her flesh causing everybody to think they saw her butt cheeks. http://www.luxist.com/tag/jennifer%20lopez/
Each month, The Outnet receives over one million unique visitors, less than ten percent of which overlap with the existing Net-a-Porter customer base. The United States, where The Outnet has experienced year on year growth of over 90 percent, now constitutes its biggest market. And, 70 percent of the product on The Outnet does not come from Net-a-Porter, so The Outnet has its own buying teams and relationships with brand partners. All of this seems to be working wonders, leading to an estimated annual turnover of more than $50 million, something that took more than 5 years for Net-a-Porter to achieve. read more:http://www.businessoffashion.com/2010/11/ceo-talk-stephanie-phair-director-theoutnet-com.html
The sales and net traffic are impressive; the idea is that people get a glimpse of celebrity, even if its last year’s and a little lower down on the food chain. It becomes a matter of status on the pecking order. Buy a few things from Outnet, claim them as an identity and still shop at Target. Its heavy consumerism but it works and if it was too cheap, it couldn’t get sold on the Net. The Facebook page has 50,000 fans so it no Burberry with their three million, but it has created a bond with the customer; whether this will be a dot.com bust part two as these types ventures go to market perhaps for an IPO is hard to determine.
ADDENDUM:
Up until recently, discount luxury fashion was hidden away in out-of-town outlets, but the Internet changed all that. It’s now visible and is becoming an accepted form of retail with its own audience and expectations. I think part of our success to date is that we never underestimated that. From day one we wanted to turn discount on its head and offer a luxury experience just like the full price world. We achieve this through our brands, our edit, our merchandising, our editorial and our customer service – all things that were once neglected by virtue of getting a discount. ( Stephanie Phair ) read More: http://www.businessoffashion.com/2010/11/ceo-talk-stephanie-phair-director-theoutnet-com.html a
BoF: Looking ahead, what do you think will be the long-term impact of flash sales and deep discounting on the consumer’s willingness to spend at full price? Is there a danger that widespread discounting will alter the consumer’s perception of luxury fashion brands like those sold on The Outnet?
SP: Discount is an integral part of retail but very few brands actually acknowledge it. This is slowly changing. The secondary market, whether its discount or pre-owned, is very important for brands to support in order to enhance their full price business and enhance the value of their brand in their customer’s mind. The solution is to start engaging with that new audience. If a brand’s approach is simply about liquidation then this is a risky move in the day of the Internet. They need to consider the discount market because the Internet is making everything so much more transparent. ( Stephanie Phair ) Read More: http://www.businessoffashion.com/2010/11/ceo-talk-stephanie-phair-director-theoutnet-com.html a
Kristin Young:Rihanna, who looks gorgeous 99.9 percent of the time, wore a green winged onesie at the Echo Awards in Berlin that the blogs were comparing to Gumby by the tim
e walked off the red carpet. Amber Rose, Kanye West's former girlfriend, made a series of missteps not the least of which was a gold hooded chain mail dress she wore during fashion week. Ke$ha's has managed to confuse us with her style all year. Maybe that's because she doesn't know whether she wants to look like Lady Gaga, Courtney Love or Steve Tyler....http://www.luxist.com/2010/12/16/the-fashion-statement-worst-fashion-disasters-of-2010/
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