vente-privee.com

Paris, 13/02/2012

vente-privee.com, specialised in selling brand overstock since its creation in France in 2001, has pioneered the online sales event concept and has since become the leader of online flash sales. Since 2008, vente-privee.com has offered its characteristically French savoir-faire to its UK members, whilst featuring sales with more than 1,500 major international brands, from fashion to homeware, sports products to electronics. This experience has enabled vente-privee.com to boast impressive results for the 2011 financial year and predict trends for 2012.

It’s all about the results
Over the past 10 years, vente-privee.com has met a number of significant milestones:

In June 2008, it launched in the UK market, its 5th European country
In 2011, vente-privee.com achieved a 1.073 billion Euro turnover (900 million pounds*) in Europe, an 11% increase from 2010
In November 2011, vente-privee.com expanded beyond Europe thanks to its US launch

302 sales took place in the UK throughout the year 2011 (+4% on 2010) accounting for over 174,000 products sold.

Jacques-Antoine Granjon, President and founder of vente-privee.com, comments: “In 2011, vente-privee.com confirmed its growth predictions in Europe. We have therefore laid foundations for our future growth by developing new sectors and services, in our quest to meet brands’ needs and to give our members the most innovating offers.”

“Day after day, vente-privee.com maintains its rank as the new go-to distribution channel. Our website is a useful media tool for brands as well as a support platform for artists thanks to its strong database of 15 million members and 2.5 million daily unique users. In 2012, we will continue to offer brands a high quality destocking service, as well as the effective media tool that is vente-privee.com, while respecting our DNA, the values and environment of our brand partners, our quality of offer and service, innovation and creativity.”

vente-privee.com has also held a number of new music album sales as well as exclusively sold concert tickets in France and other countries: this is also planned for the UK market in 2012.

vente-privee.com’s 2012 trend predictions
The end of e-commerce is nigh! The line between e-commerce and traditional commerce is fast becoming blurred, with consumers no longer needing to differentiate between the two. Catherine Barba, head of vente-privee.com’s Digital Commerce Factory and a French online business pioneer, has written a study analysing e-commerce trends:

Cross-channel retailing: because of the phenomenon stated above and with the Internet completely changing consumer behaviour over the last 15 years, 2012 will see a rise in brands setting up e-boutiques. They will be the equivalent to flagship stores, open 24/7 and giving all the information needed on products, prices and availability at a click.

M-commerce: vente-privee.com is one of the first European brands to generate more than 22.5% of its global sales from the mobile field in the UK: an impressive figure seeing as vente-privee.com’s European average turnover generated by mobiles in January 2012 alone was 15%. Smartphones and tablets therefore have a significant place in any brand’s digital strategy for the coming year, with studies reflecting this by predicting that the number of mobile Internet users will exceed the number of PC Internet users as early as 2013.

Mr Granjon continues: “It’s not about whether this support helps or eats away web sales, but rather, it is simply a service provided for our clients allowing them to make purchases when they want and where they want.”

Standing out with your image and tone: pricing aside, the quality of images is what drives want, desire and impulse. Videos are quickly becoming an essential element for e-stores as they immediately plunge the visitor into the heart of the brand’s universe, while adding an educational and playful aspect to online sales.

As Jacques-Antoine Granjon explains: “A brand must create escapism on its e-commerce website. It needs to dream up the unimaginable, a vision, confirm its existence and show why it is unique. Tomorrow’s emerging brands are those that evoke desire, speak to your senses and largely due to the use of photography and videos.” The Digital Commerce Factory and vente-privee.com have teams that excel in photo shoots and web design with access to 60 photo studios and 70 video and image experts (Motion makers).

Excellent service: companies looking to succeed with their e-commerce strategy will need to ensure they provide excellent service. E-commerce is all about first-rate logistics and customer service. The most crucial step is the one that follows the order being placed: from receiving the order to delivery and returns (via getting the package ready), all this depends on a reactive customer service team. Customer satisfaction relies heavily on this particular step, which seals a commercial promise while creating a relationship with the customer.

Luxury and the Web: although many luxury brands have already begun their digital adventure, they still have a long way to go in keeping up with the expectations of today’s consumers, who are increasingly web-savvy. As Catherine Barba comments: “Luxury brands need to be able to recreate an upscale experience online. In order to do this, cross-channel retailing, image, as well as offers and services to customers all play a major role.”

* Conversion rate on 13th February 2012: 1 EUR = 0.838858 GBP

About vente-privee.com
vente-privee.com founded the online sales event concept and is the global leader in the sector. Specialising in selling brand overstock since 2001, online sales are exclusive to its 15 million members in Europe. Registration to the vente-privee.com club is free and with no purchase obligation. Sales are for a limited time only (3 to 5 days) and organised in close collaboration with over 1,500 major international brands in all product categories: ready to wear, fashion accessories, homeware, toys, sports equipment, high-tech, gastronomy…Thanks to its partnerships with brands, vente-privee.com offers irresistible discounts (50-70% off). With 1,500 employees in 8 European countries, vente-privee.com generated 1.073 billion Euros (900 million pounds) in gross turnover in 2011, an 11% increase from 2010. In 2011, the website launched in the United States in partnership with American Express.

More info? Visit the Press Room at http://pressroom.vente-privee.com

About the Digital Commerce Factory
Created in late 2010, the Digital Commerce Factory is an e-commerce service offering to manage brands’ electronic commerce from A to Z, no matter what their sector (ready to wear, fashion accessories, homeware, toys, sports equipment...):

• Creating the e-commerce platform (website and m-commerce)
• Managing the site (launch, hosting and logistics)
• Creating catalogues (photo shoots, video production, setting the scene)

Thanks to Catherine Barba and her distinctive background as the head of the Digital Commerce Factory, vente-privee.com is making the most from her expertise in the field of e-commerce by providing her know-how in five of the following domains: audiovisual production (Digital Factory by vente-privee.com), logistics, technology, marketing and customer service.

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