You are hereHearst’s Kaboodle Gets Into Social Commerce With Flash Sales Site PopPicks
Hearst’s Kaboodle Gets Into Social Commerce With Flash Sales Site PopPicks
Social shopping site Kaboodle, which was acquired by Hearst Interactive Group in 2007 for $30 million or so, is trying its hand at social commerce with new community-driven flash sales site PopPicks.
PopPicks, which is members-only, partners with a retailer each week to feature a collection of products. The Kaboodle community is then invited to vote for the products they like best. After four days of voting, the most liked products are made available to Kaboodle members at an steeply discounted prices for four days or until the inventory is sold out.
While Kaboodle is a little late to the online sample sale game, with the element of voting, PopPicks has a slightly different take on the flash-sales model that Gilt Groupe, Ideeli, Hautelook, Beyond The Rack and others have seen success with. The ability to vote on what clothes go on sale could be a compelling feature to the flash-sales market. Initially, PopPicks will feature primarily fashion apparel and accessories and will eventually broaden its offering to include retail brands in home, beauty and gadgets.
Kaboodle, which underwent a realtime makeover earlier this year, has over 1 million registered users. Launched in 2005, Kaboodle faces competition from ThisNext, Like.com and Sugar’s ShopStyle.
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Beyond the Rack, a members-only sample sale site, has raised another round of funding today. The startup has just announced a $12 million round of funding from Highland Capital Partners and BDC Venture Capital. This brings the Beyond The Rack’s total funding to $16.5 million.
Flash sales site HauteLook has raised $31 million in Series C funding, led by Insight Venture Partners. The startup previously raised $10 million in Series B funding last year.
It looks like you’ll soon be able to shop for cars on flash sales sites. Gilt Groupe has just announced a first-ever auto flash sale of a Volkswagen Jetta on the site.
Flash sales site Ideeli, which was founded in 2007, has raised $41 million in Series C funding led by Next World Capital with Cue Ball Capital, StarVest Partners, Constellation Growth Capital and Kodiak Venture Partner participating in the round. This bring’s Ideeli’s total funding to nearly $70 million
Flash sales have proven to be a valuable place to find a deal on almost anything; from clothing to travel to home goods to wine. But with growing number of flash sales sites out there, it can be overwhelming to track every sale each day via individual emails. Splendora’s SalesCast iPhone app aggregates over 20 sales into one free app.
It’s no secret we’re big fans of One Kings Lane, a Kleiner Perkins and Greylock-backed flash sales site for home décor, furnishings and accessories. Today, the e-commerce startup is launching a new feature called Downstairs, which will give the site’s members deeper discounts on a selection of items; with prices up to 80 percent off retail.
Vente-Privee, the European flash sales giant, has announced a joint venture with American Express to bring the site to the U.S.