Flash Retailers

A new wave of retailing is hitting consumers- online only 'flash retailers'. These companies partner with their brands to provide limited time sales - ranging from a couple hours to 48 hours. These limited time sales cause consumers to purchase items they may not have originally purchased because the item can be up to 75% off, but only for a couple hours and there are only so many in stock. A few examples of these online flash retailers are:


HauteLook


ideeli


Rue La La


These retailers are growing rapidly and are gaining a lot of attention in the retail industry.. HauteLook was purchased by Nordstroms earlier this year!

Black Friday..dun dun duunnn

Having worked in retail for 3+ years, I have always been amazed and yet mortified at the people who are willing to get up at 3 am to go shopping on "Black Friday". For those of you who don't know, Black Friday is what retailers call the Friday after Thanksgiving. I have worked several 5 am or earlier shifts on this day and there are always at least 10 people waiting outside the building before we opened.


Why would anyone enjoy getting up that early to go shopping with other tired, cranky, (crazy!) people only to be shoved, pushed past, have your sweater you were planning on buying ripped out of your hands, or worst case, trampled in WalMart? The answer: SALES! Consumers love the word sale and are willing to go out of their way to save a couple bucks.


I even witnessed customers climbing up walls to get to flip-flops that were only 50 cents cheaper than they normally are..

First Post

This is the first post to my new blog!