Dude. You were so awesome last night! That Kriss Kross cover you did at Karaoke? Epic. I wish you hadn’t actually taken your pants off to turn them around but still, primo performance, man. Screened on our super soft Tanga tees.
Gilt mastered the flash sales model on the internet. But they also mastered selling clothing online. I think the second has as much to do with their success as the first.
No one in online clothing retail has a better user experience: Gorgeous, high resolution photos that show even a shirt’s weave. Descriptive, objective-sounding reviews. Awesome visual design with beautiful fonts, buttons, and interface imagery. Killer zooming. Fit advice — “This style fits true to size” — with the pictured model’s size and measurements. Free, fast shipping, free returns.
Items are actually more appealing than they are in stores. The company takes full advantage of the web’s powers, with convenience, scale, efficiency, information, and interactivity galore.
It’s a really fantastic experience overall, and it’s expanded into all of their properties – Gilt Man, Jetsetter, and now Gilt City. And taken further, the Gilt experience on the iPad is even better: drag to add to cart, zoom into photos with a pinch, etc. It’s the future of shopping.
I think it’s a competitive advantage. With online retailers, the focus hasn’t been on interface, as it is been with other web 2.0 startups. But Gilt realizes that a slick design can change consumer behavior. The combination of low prices and a really thought-out experience made shopping diehards buy exclusively online.
The shopping experience is a major focus at Gilt. Yesterday, I was at July’s NY Tech Meetup. It was a great show. Joshua Schwadron from the startup I worked at last summer, Betterfly, demoed, as did the founders of Jetsetter.
Jetsetter was “incubated” at Gilt. It looks and feels the same. But it’s not a flash sales site. The founders made it clear that the true value proposition that Jetsetter provides to customers is a way to browse travel destinations in a photo-centric, “seductive” way. It’s Gilt for travel, minus the timed-sale hoopla. Hotels and destinations are willing to cut prices because their product isn’t cheapened (in fact, it looks better than ever) and because they’re reaching new customers. Jetsetter’s not meant to be a Hotels.com replacement. It’s meant to be a place to get good travel ideas, to pick from an immersive, interactive catalog of sorts.
It makes so much sense. Web design is completely scalable. It’s totally a fixed cost, and a relatively small one. Gilt is able to simulate the upscale feel of Barney’s — the interior design, the product framing, shelving, and display — on the internet, for a fraction of the cost, while offering prices up to 30% less. Brilliant.
Key to this is a fundamental shift in shopping online. The current leaders of e-commerce are companies like Amazon and Staples (surprisingly the web’s second largest retailer by sales dollars). They focus on search-driven sales. People type in what they’re looking for and checkout. Customers are looking for convenience, free shipping, and low costs.
Slow to pickup, however, have been browse-driven sales. These are the items people don’t know they want. They’re the items that people go to Bloomingdales for. These customers leaf through items and make irrational decisions on a whim. Gilt has been able to replicate that experience. They solved the internet’s browse problem.
More fundamentally, they figured out how to sell non-attribute items online. An attribute item is one that’s easily characterized on paper; in other words, cameras, books, computers, office supplies. Non-attribute items are the physical things that people like to feel before they purchase: apparel, accessories, sunglasses. Gilt realized that to sell non-attribute things there needs to be an initial lure (the prices) combined with an awesome browsing experience.
The result is gold. Gilt’s exploding. It’s branching into new products everyday. They just went into local attractions with Gilt City, which I think is leagues ahead of Groupon’s site.
Gilt wants to be the place for all indulgence purchases. I could see them going into jewelry, handbags, cosmetics, furniture, watches, and other web-neglected verticals.
For some reason, no one’s knocking them off. Do they not see the secret sauce? [Thanks http://bitsofgenius.net/]
Michael Phelps better slow down on this one because at 55 storeys up, this infinity pool could glide you straight over the edge of Singapore, if not the world. It’s part of the $6 billion Marina Bay Sands Skypark hotel, which just opened this week.
Ok, so if you were really to propel yourself over the edge, you’d fall into a catchment-area which sends the excess water straight back into the pool. But where’s the fun in that? The pool itself is three times the length of an Olympic-sized pool, and is the largest pool in the world at that height reportedly.
Another world record has been broken, with the hotel also becoming the most expensive hotel—knocking Abu Dhabi’s Emirates Palace Hotel off it pedestal, which cost a measly $3 billion to build back in 2004.
The pool runs across three of the hotel’s towers, which feature indoor canals, casinos, shops, theaters and a museum. As well as the hotel rooms you’d expect. Don’t expect to be staying here on your next visit to Singapore though, as entrance to the casino alone costs $70.
Apparently the casino charge is only to residents of Singapore, whose government wishes to deter them from gambling. Foreigners can enter the casino for free—though to look off the observation deck, that’ll cost $20. [La Repubblica via DesignBoom]
Creed Aventus is the newest scent from the famed French fragrance house taking its inspiration and fragrance notes from the life of Napoleon Bonaparte. Inside the leather wrapped bottle you’ll find scents of Blackcurrant, Bergamot, Calville Blanc, and Royal Pineapple at the top note, Napoleon Roses, Louisiana Birch, Jasmine, and Exotic Patchouli at the heart, and base notes of Oak Moss, Ambergris and Gourmand Vanilla. Aventus will debut first in the US at Creed’s Madison Ave. location in NY, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf’s, and Saks this September.
If you have money to burn i mean if you are looking for a luxury vacation & you need a good place to stay. If you like penthouses instead and are in NYC, it’s got to be the Four Seasons Hotel New York. The 4,300 square foot Ty Warner Penthouse suite penthouse houses nine rooms and gives you a stunning view of Manhattan. The room is paneled with wood and the lacquered walls come in mother of pearl. The linen includes hand crafted Venetian silk bedspread spots lines of 22 carat gold threads and is spread on a the canopy bed made of Thai silk. At a time, the penthouse can have only 10 guests and the suite costs $35,000 per night.
We all had those mornings and we all know when we just don’t want to talk so don’t ask me dumb questions and Nothing says “don’t talk to me ’til I’ve had my coffee” like this coffee mug.
Gun Handle Mug ($18)
First off let me say this is just stupid & If you do this to your suit you know you have issues! Notice how he has to hold the bottom – the reason why is beacuse 5lbs will weigh your Jacket down! Well if your still eager to make a custom ipad pocket then you might consider pitching your pennies towards a Custom iPad Pocket Suit (Inquire price) by Mohan Custom Tailors. These dapper threads come with a hidden built-in pocket to carry his iPad on his most important business missions.
Michael Phelps is trying to find his lost youth, left in the depths of an Olympic sized swimming pool…
From the Superficial: Not only did the party at University of South Carolina cost Michael Phelps the warm, striped love of Tony the Tiger, he lost $2,000 playing beer pong. Which is why you never bet money on beer pong. Page Six reports:
“I saw Phelps pull out a roll, a bank-wrapped $2,000. He said, ‘I’ll match the $2,000,’ ” onlooker Michael Whitworth told the State newspaper. “Good ol’ Phelpsie lost it, too.”
We have wall-mounted TVs, so why not aquariums? We suspect this same question was asked in the early development stages of the Aquavista Panoramic Wall Aquarium ($1,000-$1,200). This striking decoration comes with all the gear necessary for a tropical aquarium, including an automatic feeder, dual filtration, heater, air pump, lighting, and a carbon dioxide generator, all of which is controlled via a side-mounted, touchscreen LCD. Available in 5-foot, 20 gallon and 6-foot, 25 gallon models, it’s the new must-have accessory for anyone making an appearance on Cribs. [Thanks Uncrate]
Eurocopter has teamed with renowned automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz to develop a special edition of the EC145 twin-engine turbine helicopter with a high-end interior, which was unveiled today at the 2010 European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition in Geneva, Switzerland.
The EC145 “Mercedes-Benz Style” was conceived in a design project led by the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio in Como, Italy, and bears all the hallmarks and passion of Mercedes-Benz design.
“Eurocopter has consolidated its position as the leading helicopter supplier for corporate and VIP operators based on a commitment to creativity, efficiency and performance with the world’s most modern rotary-wing product line,” said Olivier Lambert – Eurocopter’s Senior Vice President for Sales and Customer Relations. “The EC145 ‘Mercedes-Benz Style’ is our third major creative initiative of this type in seven years, ensuring that Eurocopter will continue as the helicopter manufacturer of choice for corporate and VIP customers.”
The EC145’s spacious cabin enabled Mercedes-Benz designers to take a modular approach for the new high-end interior, which is inspired by the automaker’s new R-Class range. Seat upholstery in the EC145 “Mercedes-Benz Style” will be available in deluxe materials and a range of colors, and a choice of elegant woods is offered to provide luxury underfoot. The overall impression of elegance and style is complemented by a stylish arrangement of wood panels for the ceilings.
All seats are mounted on rails and can be quickly and easily reconfigured for different seating configurations, or removed to make room for luggage. Three multi-function boxes with features such as a cool box, cup holder, table, monitor and DVD player have been incorporated, along with extra storage space provided by drawers. A partition wall with windows separates the cabin from the cockpit, and ambient cabin lighting utilized on Mercedes-Benz E-Class and S-Class vehicles is integrated the design of the passenger cabin.
A multi-purpose storage zone has been included in the EC145’s aft cabin, providing a high-capacity luggage compartment with numerous attachment points on the floor and walls for baggage, golf clubs and other outsized articles.
The EC145 is well suited for the application of “Mercedes-Benz Style”, as this turbine-powered aircraft is at the top of its class in the medium-sized, twin-engine helicopter category. It combines the company’s latest developments in cockpit design, avionics and a sophisticated electrical system, and incorporates a hingeless rotor system and enhanced rotor blades that ensure low noise and vibration levels. More than 315 EC145s have been
sold around the globe for a full range of operations and mission applications, and it is the only helicopter of its type that can seat up to eight passengers.
“Eurocopter and Mercedes-Benz are a perfect match” said Professor h.c. Gorden Wagener, head of design at Mercedes-Benz. “Both are renowned for groundbreaking innovation and trend-setting products. We are delighted to join Eurocopter in unveiling the first product of our new “Mercedes-Benz Style”. The interior of the EC145 ‘Mercedes-Benz Style’, conceived in a design project led by the Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Studio in Como, Italy, bears all the hallmarks and passion of Mercedes-Benz design”.
New production EC145s “Mercedes-Benz Style” will be available from the fourth quarter of 2011.
More information on the EC145 “Mercedes-Benz Style” – along with Eurocopter’s other products for the business aviation sector – is available at the Eurocopter exhibit (Stand 7010) during the 2010 European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition, which is being held May 4-6 at the Geneva PALEXPO exhibition center.
