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Talk of Rue La La's potential sale to Gilt has the wheels in New York Times fashion critic Vanessa Friedman's head spinning. Flash sale mania has been on the wane for several years, she writes, and the inevitable outcome of this lessened interest is consolidation. Could Gilt Groupe, one of the pioneers in the space and arguably the strongest flash sale competitor, be the last man standing?
"The online universe is actually like one giant street, where you only actually need one of each store," Friedman writes. "This is why, despite the many competitors, Net-a-Porter and Yoox still hold such commanding leads in the higher end, and why I think we will see a weeding out of the flash-sale names."
Gilt is up against Rue La La, HauteLook (now owned by Nordstrom), the European vente-privee (which is partnered with American Express), mom-focused Zulily, ideeli (owned by Groupon), and Montreal's Beyond the Rack. Friedman doesn't venture a guess as to which one will survive. Instead, she wonders if any of these platforms are still relevant to shoppers. Thoughts?
· Flash-Sale Sites: Do They Still Matter? [On the Runway]
· What the Stylish Women Behind Gilt Groupe Wear to Work [Racked]
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