BOCA RATON, Fla.-Credit unions were offered some ideas on becoming a "cult brand," from one company that has managed to do just that.
Five years after launch, Gilt.com has more than five-million members, and for many the site is a daily "appointment." That's because at noon EST each day, it unveils select, luxury items for sale at up to 75% off. Co-founder Alexis Maybank shared with CO-OP Financial Services' THINK 12 meeting some of the secrets to its strategies, and the lessons it has learned about the online consumer.
"We want to get people to drop everything they are doing at noon," Maybank said, noting 75% of its revenues come every day between 12-2 EST. "For two hours per day we have to have the scale of an Amazon and respond to thousands of purchases and customer inquiries."
One key for Gilt.com, said Maybank, is it doesn't try to be all things to all people. It has also stressed extraordinary personalization and simplicity, including the ability to "get in, look around, and get out" quickly.
"We knew we had to make this very addictive and fun and change our storefront every single day. It's a much more emotional shopping process that we have accomplished by providing content and information, but also shifting to storytelling through images and less and less on text."
Gilt.com offers incentives to customers who get others to join the site-and joining the site is another key, because Gilt.com immediately begins capturing user info and building a targeted, customized experience to users' lifestyles.
Since launch, the one-time fashion site has become a "lifestyle brand," with products for men, children, and home, along with gourmet food, travel and more.
"Each time we expand we ask what would get our customers excited, what would get you to come? It's about coveted experiences and items. It's aspirartional, and it's highly personalized. The trend toward personalization is what I call 'Predictive Commerce.' It means that businesses have to very seriously focus on capturing data on their customers so that they feel every time they come to see you, you now them better."
Maybank said it is now responding to a "dramatic shift to mobile," which she calls the "store in my pocket" model.
"There is no roadmap to building your brand online. But what is important is that you are constantly experimenting, that you can iterate and test, and learn from your failures. Focus on what you can do online that you can't do online. It's doing a hundred small things on a regular basis that add up that is more important than that one big thing."
