NATIONAL: Private e-tailers are recording a boom in membership numbers as designers move to sell stock at up to 80 per cent off retail prices.
Alex Perry, Toni Maticevksi, Karen Walker and Josh Goot are among the latest luxury designers to offer heavily discounted merchandise through member-only portals. These include the recently launched estile.com, cocolee.com.au, ozsale.com.au and brandsexclusive.com.au, which were constructed as an avenue to clear excess inventory and product samples through “discreet” sales.According to internet measurement firm Hitwise, Ozsale is the market leader in its category with a 94 per cent increase in traffic from June 2008 to June 2009. The firm’s lifestyle data suggests ‘academic achievers’ – wealthy areas of educated professional households – make up its largest portion of visitors.
High-profile sales featured on Ozsale include garments from Rock & Republic, Zara, Gap, Tigerlily and Perry, with the latter slashing evening gowns from $1000-plus to $250. The service’s business model sees it clearing overstock products within a 72-hour period by either purchasing collections outright or collaborating with brands on sale.
Ozsale currently has 200,000 members across Australia and New Zealand, with growth of around 400 members per day through referrals. Marketing director Jim Lees said this was a marked shift from its launch two years ago, when it had just 1000 registered users in total.
“Our process is controlled to protect a brand’s image – consumers get an email every morning directly and is not put on the open internet, television or press,” he said. “We are known in the industry for this with the majority of brands approaching us.”
Invitation-only website Estile had also recorded a strong growth in membership numbers, despite having no advertising or marketing campaigns in place. The site had seen a 200 per cent month-on-month growth in registered users since launching in January 2009.
Limited-edition sales on the site have included stock from high profile brands Toni Maticevski, Josh Goot and eyewear from Karen Walker.
Estile founder Abbey Turnball said most sales ran for 45 to 72 hours and featured stock from previous seasons, samples or excess mid-season inventory.
“Generally we source past seasons’ products direct from various luxury brands, put them on sale for a specific and limited period of time and open it up to members. We are a private site [and] luxury labels appreciate this level of discretion.”
Sydney-based fashion agent Faith Agugu said the recent surge in private websites could provide designers with added financial benefits.
“Production costs are a huge expense for most designers and production costs come down to quantity. Taking a risk and increasing production by 10 per cent will bring costs down if designers think outside the box and off load stock through fashion auctions and online sales.”
Upmarket jewellery designer Zoe Sernack, who has sold her Zoemou line through Estile and Cocolee, said she had reached a new market as a result of listing her products online.
“I’ve sold items that weren’t part of my ranges so this gave customers an opportunity to buy something in a unique style or colourway. I make sure each sale is different with different stock and exclusive designs.”
Sernack said most online providers took a small percentage of overall sales and paid the remaining balance straight away. The process was discreet and designed to protect the integrity of featured labels, she said.
Brands Exclusive, which was launched in mid 2008 and offered merchandise at up to 50 to 70 per cent off, also works closely with designers on online branding and marketing materials, campaign objectives, stock and pricing.
Co-founder Rof Weber said only one brand was featured per sales event, with most lasting between three and seven days.
“All stock is also sourced directly from the brand owners with no parallel importing from China or the US and no receivership goods. We work only with the brands directly to develop custom-made online events to suit their brand strategy.
“While some brands focus on reaching a lot of eyeballs as part of an e-marketing strategy, some are keen to clear excess inventory and price aggressively or test new products.”
Brands on the site include Seafolly, Natasha, Mavi Jeans, Fiorelli and Milk and Honey.