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Gilt Groupe

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Gilt Groupe
Company typePrivate
IndustryE-commerce
Founded2007
FoundersKevin P. Ryan - Dwight Merriman - Alexis Maybank - Alexandra Wilkis Wilson
Headquarters
New York, N.Y.
,
USA
Key people
Kevin P. Ryan (CEO) - Susan Lyne (Chairman) - Andy Page (President)[1]
Number of employees
More than 1000 [2]
Websitegilt.com

Gilt is an online shopping destination based in the United States. Gilt sells fashion for women, men, and children; home decor; artisanal ingredients; hotels and travel experiences; and activities in select cities and destinations. Gilt Groupe was founded in 2007 and has over 6 million members.[3]

History

In spring 2007, Kevin Ryan recognized a market opportunity to start online flash sales in the United States and introduce consumers to an ecommerce experience.The core founding team was Mike Bryzek and Phong Nguyen. Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, friends and New York City designer sample sale shoppers, were next to join the team. Alexis, with a background in eCommerce at eBay and AOL, and Alexandra, with a background in luxury goods from Bulgari and Louis Vuitton, set out to build the rest of the Gilt team. The team tries to get designer brands and services to be featured on Gilt.com.

The company launched women's clothing and accessories in November 2007, men's in April 2008, Gilt Groupe Japan in February 2009, Gilt Fuse in August 2009, travel site Jetsetter in September 2009, Gilt City in April 2010 and Gilt Home in May 2010. Gilt Groupe is based in New York, N.Y. with warehouses in Brooklyn, NY, Las Vegas, NV, and Louisville, KY.

Business model

Gilt Groupe visitors must be members in order to view sales. Initially, membership was by invitation only. However, Gilt Groupe no longer uses this policy, and non-members can now sign up directly on gilt.com without having been invited. New sales typically start at Noon EST, last 36–48 hours, and feature merchandise from a single brand or small groups of brands at prices up to 60% off of manufacturer's suggested retail prices. For Gilt's business model to work, the company general agrees to purchase vendor inventory at an extreme discount, and then adds a margin on top of the discounted price in order to make a profit and sell items at a discount.[4] An email announcing the start of each day's sales is sent to all members shortly before the sale starts, and orders are taken on a first come, first-served basis. As orders are received, they are shipped directly from warehouses in either Brooklyn, N.Y. or Louisville, KY.

On August 22, 2011, Gilt Groupe started letting customers shop directly through Facebook. Consumers on Facebook also have access to shop select offers before the sales launch on the Gilt.com e-commerce site.[5]

Gilt Man

On October 14, 2009, Gilt launched a men's-only sale site called Gilt Man.[6][7]

Jetsetter

After debuting a Beta version of an invitation-only travel sales site called Jetsetter on September 30, 2009,[8] Gilt Groupe officially launched Jetsetter on April 8, 2010. Jetsetter.com is a travel community providing members with hand-selected experiences, verified by experts. From hotels to homes, tours to trip planning, Jetsetter offers exclusive deals and insider advice you won’t find elsewhere. Each vacation featured on the site is hand-selected by a team of curators and personally verified by a Jetsetter correspondent. Jetsetters can browse offerings on sale in flash at prices up to 50 percent off; or peruse Jetsetter 24/7, a collection of more than 1,050 hotels, resorts and vacation homes available 365 days a year. Jetsetter correspondents are available for private consultations through the Personal Travel Planning Service or to personalize deluxe tours through the new Jetsetter Journeys. Jetsetter apps for iPhone and iPad were named best travel apps in Apple App Store Rewind 2011.

Gilt City

Gilt City is a location-based deal service similar to Groupon, WagJag and Living Social. Curators seek out luxurious events, services and experiences available in major cities and offer discounts and deals to Gilt Group members. Gilt City provides access to unique and coveted lifestyle experiences in the world's most dynamic cities – at insider prices. Each sale lasts a limited time and features a city's most sought-after restaurants, spas, concerts, cultural offerings and more. Gilt City currently features offers in New York, Boston, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Tokyo. A subsidiary of Gilt Groupe, Inc., Gilt City is headquartered in New York City with local curators in each market.

In August 2011 East Hampton (village), New York sought an injunction against the activities in “Hamptons House." The village noted that tickets were being sold for a business to be operated out of a house zoned for residential use only. The Gilt Groupe rented the house. Tickets for events ranged from $25 to $1,500.[9] Gilt said it would not hold events at the house but that it would have the events elsewhere.[10] Gilt moved the events to a house in Scuttlehill Road in Bridgehampton, New York where it held a dinner with chef Scott Conant ($125) and yoga with Russell Simmons ($75).[11]

Gilt Taste

Gilt Taste is a public, gourmet food site which is both an e-commerce shop which gives direct access to artisan products[clarification needed] and ingredients as well as an interactive magazine of original recipes and stories from chefs and food experts. Gilt Taste launched on May 18, 2011.[12]

Mobile applications

On September 29, 2009, Gilt Groupe announced the introduction of the Gilt on the Go App for iPhone on the Apple App Store.[13] Also, on April 3, 2010, Gilt Groupe announced the launch of its Gilt App for iPad, becoming one of the first retailers to develop an iPad application. In order to promote Gilt App for iPad, Gilt Groupe granted instant Gilt Groupe membership to all iPad owners who download the app and also gave a $10 credit to the first 10,000 iPad owners who register for new membership through the app.[14]

Book

Founders Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson have released a book By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop.[15]

References

  1. ^ http://www.gilt.com/company/team
  2. ^ Gilt Groupe - Company Overview
  3. ^ "Author Series with Alexis Maybank of Gilt Groupe". New York Technology Council. August 7, 2012.
  4. ^ https://www.quora.com/Gilt-Groupe/How-does-Gilts-business-model-work
  5. ^ August 22, 2011 http://www.internetretailer.com/2011/08/22/gilt-goes-after-facebook-shoppers
  6. ^ "It's a Gilt Man's World".
  7. ^ "Gilt Groupe Launches Gilt MAN".
  8. ^ Shambora, Jessica (September 30, 2009). "Gilt Groupe's Jetsetter takes off". CNN.
  9. ^ Garrison, Virginia (2011-08-04). "UPDATE: Gilt City East Hampton House Party Is Off". 27east. Retrieved 2011-08-09.
  10. ^ http://easthampton.patch.com/articles/mayor-small-victory-for-zoning-as-gilt-city-abandons-plans
  11. ^ "Elliptical vs. treadmill: Which will give you the better workout?". Daily News. New York. 2011-08-15.
  12. ^ Fabricant, Florence (2011-05-17). "Gilt Taste Arrives, With Ruth Reichl at the Helm". The New York Times.
  13. ^ "Gilt Groupe Launches the Gilt on the Go App on the App Store" (PDF).
  14. ^ "Gilt Groupe Launches New App for iPad – Now Available on the App Store" (PDF).
  15. ^ Business Week
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