What is Gilt? Gilt Review, Features

Gilt is a luxury flash sale website based in the United States. The products it sells are generally well-known brands. It was called "the favorite of luxury lovers" by Fast Company magazine in the United States. It also has a group purchase website Gilt City. The Gilt model is actually an innovative marketing model for luxury goods on the Internet. In summary, the Gilt model = membership + limited time and limited quantity + brand name discounts.

About Gilt

Gilt's main business is to provide special discounts, with discounts of up to 70%, and give registered members three days to consider whether to buy.

Gilt specializes in apparel, home entertainment and luxury travel, offering brands including Dolce & Gabbana and Giorgio Armani.

Gilt has continuously innovated and achieved many firsts in the industry. It is not only far ahead of its competitors in terms of market value, but also seeks breakthroughs in the original three-in-one model of luxury goods, membership, and flash sales. Through the integration of big data information, it makes targeted recommendations based on the different preferences of buyers, saving buyers precious screening time.

Membership Rights

Gilt is a membership-based website. Only registered members can browse the products. The higher the level, the greater the privileges. High-level members can also place orders one hour in advance.

Sale Time

The flash sale starts at 12:00 p.m. EST (1:00 a.m. Beijing time, midnight during summer time) except Wednesday and Sunday, and lasts for 36-48 hours before being removed from the shelves. Gilt's shopping cart needs to be paid for within 10 minutes after adding items, otherwise it will be released and you need to continue purchasing. In addition, you can enter the product name such as Calvin Klein, Kate Spade, etc. in the search box in the upper right corner to search, and you can filter out the styles that are on regular sale after the flash sale.

Sales Category

Women (including clothing, shoes, bags/beauty), men (similar to women), children (clothing/toys), home (electrical appliances/daily necessities/decorations/bedding), etc.

freight

Gilt charges sales tax for products shipped to Massachusetts, New York, and Kentucky, but no tax is imposed on California. The shipping fee within the United States is $5.95, and the international shipping fee is $19.95. You can ship directly to China, but you have to pay the tariff in advance. Sometimes there are (global) free shipping activities.

Payment Methods

It supports common credit cards, including Visa, MasterCard and American Express, and also supports Alipay payment.

Development History

-In 2007, Gilt was founded.

-In November 2007, Gilt launched women's clothing and accessories.

-In April 2008, Gilt launched its menswear category.

-In 2009, Gilt launched Gilt Groupe Japan, Gilt Fuse and travel website Jetsetter.

-In 2010, Gilt launched Gilt City and Gilt Home websites.

-In December 2010, American online luxury retailer Gilt Groupe raised at least $15 million from venture capital firm TriplePoint Capital.

-In 2011, Gilt Taste website was launched.

-In May 2011, Gilt received a $138 million investment round led by SoftBank, with participation from Goldman Sachs, New Enterprise Associates, Draper Fisher Jurvetson Growth, Pinnacle Ventures, triplePoint Capital, Eastward Capital, General Atlantic and Matrix Partners.

In 2012, the company formed a partnership with Jason Binn's high-end lifestyle magazine DuJour.

-In February 2015, Gilt Groupe raised $50 million in new funding from General Atlantic, an existing investor in the company, as well as other Gilt investors and a new strategic partner.

-In 2016, Gilt Groupe was acquired by Saks Fifth Avenue's parent company, Canadian department store Hudson's Bay Company, for a low price.

-In 2018, Hudson's Bay Co., the parent company of American luxury department store Saks and a Canadian luxury department store operator, has agreed to sell its luxury flash sale website Gilt Groupe to its competitor Rue La La.