VENTES - PRIVEE.COMThese events are limited in the time – 2 to 4 days each.
To access the club you have to be invited by a member of the community.
The private sells take place online only, with secure payment on-line, normal guarantees, right of retraction. Ventes - privées is typical pure player.
Sales of all kind of products from well-known brands:
Lancel,Nike, Oxbow, Vans, Rodier, Festina, Ralph lauren, Billabong, Oakley, SEB, Meccano, Parfums Berger, DODO, DG,iviera & Bar, Sony, BMW, Clayeux, Lancel, Votre nom, Dim, Nivéa, Timberland, St dupont, RedSkins, Wolford, Alessi, New Balance, Lamarthe, Blanc bleu, Chantelle, Passionata, Corolle, Taurus, Oakwood, chicco, etc.
The society has been founded in 2000. It’s activity covers France only (and Monaco).
One million of individual visits/day; 40 000 articles sold/day!
The most important principle of positioning of Ventes-privées: every prospect has to be recommended by a member of the club to became a client!
These events are limited in the time – 2 to 4 days each.
The sales process1. Two days before the sale, you receive an e-mail invitation, presenting the offer
2. You have to subscribe to take part in the sale.
3. You receive an alert the day of the sale. Every sale’s event is presented by video trailer.
4. The sale last 2 or 3 days and beggan at 7 a.m. during the week and at 9 a.m. the week-end.
5. You will receive your products by the Post or special delivery in few days – the date of delivery is given to you at the moment of the purchase.
You would like to be a ventes-privee’s client? You are well-coached, step by step…
The firm’s avatar symbolises the ‘fun’ image of the start-up and creates an affective link.
Every step is symbolised with symbols easy to understand.
‘Testimonials’ enforce the credibility…
Some ‘special effects’ makes us dream!
Easy and simple, all that client needs… 
Varity of options (you can make deliver your command at any address) 
Incentives to people that attract others to became members to the club
Security of transactions
Personal account and confirmation mails to be informed about your purchases.The web site is minimalist, just clear enough. The look is ‘female’, dominating color is rose.
The image it translates is ‘happy’ and ‘dreamy’.
Diversification of the supports (to be in constant contact with the customer):
You are coached very well again, trough a humoristic cartoon this time. 
To maintain a community spirit, nothing is better, than a blog.
The blog has been existing for 2 years.
Delivery – between 10 and 30 days.
The delivery date is not choosen by the customer, but announced before the finalisation of the command.
After the validation of the command on the website, ventes-privées command the product from their partner and receive it 5 to 10 days later. They are 50 000 commands a day!
Problems solved:
- customers
Access to products from famous brands at accessible price. Sales all the year (In France sales are organized only 2 times in the year.)
- suppliers
Reach well-focused target. Offer some products on a reduced prices all year long. Test some products in a selected market and the ‘hungry’ about them. Test and adapt the price policy.
- partners
A well-know media, well positioned in Internet.
Good targeting. Established social network in Internet.
- owners of the business
They don’t stock the products which represent big dispenses to traditional retailers. They don’t need to buy products to resell them to final client. There is no any risk for them if the customer is not interested of a product. Vente-privées have not any financial engagement concerning the amount of sales and have not any losses.
- Customers groups served
Women, active people that don’t have time to go shopping.
People that are looking for the sense of being exceptional, ‘selected’.
Revenue sources
The banking partner of ‘ventes-privées.com’ is Societe Generale which probably pays some % to the society on the amount of the transactions. Idem for the brands.
surinvitation.com, AchatVip.com, espacemax.com, l'invité des marques, rushloft, bebeshopping, bestmarques.com...
Can the model apply offline as well?
Originally, it was the ‘private sells’-model. It is difficult to imagine this kind of model without using modern communication means. Sometimes flayers are used to invite people to private sells. Some companies send invitations for private sells to their clients by the post, but the mechanism is different. Client could be more reticent to that offer, because he didn’t subscribe for that. Opting for receiving information or invitations from a shop in a form don’t makes him ready to go to these private sells. It is more difficult to go to these sells physically to participate from home or from the workplace via Internet. It is more easy to forget about a private sales when the invitation is on paper, it is easier to lose that invitation, than to forget about it when receiving alerts in your e-mail box. In the same time people are more and more tired of being targeted by marketers by e-mail, so that business model has its limits.
There is a danger that it is a fashion trend and that ‘club’ could be abandoned by its members. ‘Ventes-privées’ is trying to develop the clients’ loyalty via diversification of supports (mobile phones) or communication forms (blog).
Is the model scalable, sustainable?
The stability of the model in the time depends on the competitors.
If the legislation changes and allows in the future sells to be organized several times during the year, it could be a problem.
With the development of the web marketing, firms send them-selves special offers by e-mail and don’t obviously need to use services like these offered by ‘ventes-privées’.
Ex. Pierre Ricaud:
Garnier
To last in time ‘ventes-privée’ could develop their web site as a social media (like Facebook).
How to:
- increase users or customers?
Advertise in social medias (site as Facebook that use the same principles of person-to-person network relations)
- expend revenue sources
Expend services, (offer special travel offers, for exemple).Offer the possibility of sells between members (like e-bay)…
Growth model for the business
Pioneer, Ventes-privées is a well-known brand in France. It could develop globally, by creating partnerships with other players in the Net economy that use original business models. Why not a collaboration with Easy Jet for the delivery?
Comment
The main weakness of the vente-privée’s model concerns the delivery deadlines. The firm could not guarantee the date of delivery to the end client. The firm could develop a delivery services branch.
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