Vente-Privee, the 10-year-old French company credited with developing the luxury flash sales model adapted by Gilt Groupe and others in the U.S., arrived stateside Wednesday. The launch comes less than 24 hours after Gilt.com announced that it would begin shipping worldwide. Like Gilt.com, Vente-Privee offers deep discounts on designer merchandise, namely apparel and accessories for women. Sales begin at 10 a.m. each day and last 72 hours. For now, the site will run sales on only one to two brands per day, gradually scaling that number heading into the holidays.
[More from Mashable: Gilt.com Goes Global]
Gilt, by contrast, runs sales on as many as 10 or 12 different brands in it's women's category each day. Sales begin at noon and last 36 to 48 hours on average.
Vente-Privee's U.S. division is a joint venture between American Express and the French company. According to WWD, both companies have each invested approximately $35 million in cash and another $5 million in "human capital and technology transfers." The U.S. division expects to generate $500 million in annual sales within the next three to four years, having brought in $1.28 billion in revenue in Europe last year.
[More from Mashable: 3 Ways Digital Innovation Can Make Luxury Brands Exclusive Again]
Gilt, which has scaled rapidly -- expanding into a number of different verticals and hiring upwards of 700 employees since its launch in 2007 -- has yet to turn a profit.
Still, the U.S. market should prove something of a challenge for Vente-Privee. Although Vente-Privee has 14 million registered users in Europe -- more than three times the number of signsups Gilt has amassed in the U.S. -- the name has little recognition stateside. The same goes for many of the smaller European brands that will go on sale on the U.S. site.
American Express will help with the former problem, at least: The company will be reaching out and incentivizing its 30 million cardmembers to become customers of the site. Cardmembers will be offered a $20 statement credit on their first purchase between now and the end of the year. Membership Reward Points can also be exchanged for Vente-Privee gift cards.
This story originally published on Mashable here.
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