Video: U2 Beautiful Day

Beautiful day:

Weekly article source

My sources are mainly from:

JournalDuNet (through personnal research and RSS link)
Google Alerts

Vente Privee business model

www.vente-privee.com/

Description of their business model

In “vente privée” there is “vente” (sale) and “privée” (private target).
They sell brand articles online at low discounted price (stock of articles bought at low price from luxury suppliers)
They are mostly in textile articles but also in others like wine, plants, food for dog,…
Their success is really to convey the feeling of Exclusivity around the goods sold and private selection of their target, private community of customers,
They organise sale through events (occasional, flash)
They like to give also an impression of “must benefit from it now since you are the privileged !”
Their members can sponsor new members and obtain X € on next sale
Their invitation can be through e-mailing
They do not show any need to do publicity, instead they recruit a few customers who will eventually recruit others and so on.
By surfing on impulsive sale they can transform new customers into distant e-buyers.
They have a strong privileged partnership with luxury brands
They were pioneer in this business model and are now attracting many others
They do not have a real market segmentation
They have no shops as such but just stock warehouse with delivery operation.


Benefits of the model
Customers
They have interesting reduction in price for branded products
They choose their exclusive articles online and receive their articles at home

Luxury suppliers
They get rid of their unsold stocks of article (seasonality problems or change, fashion trend which did not work, color unsuited,…)
The luxury suppliers are not embarrassed with unsold articles or bad image through sale operation.
They exploit a new channel of distribution to reach customers conscious of their brand image but not willing to pay full price..

The company
Make a lot of clients through the “bouche à orreille” phenomenon, sponsor or online registration
No great marketing efforts
Make interesting profit margin on valued brand products through volume sales
Infrastructure cost is minimized (ex no shops but only stock deposits and website and web masters)


Target customers
Those invited by a friend and colleague
Those registered online at the site after having heard the good news
Those invited by online ecommerce company working with and for the vente-privée company, partners of the company or the vente-privée company itself
Those who have heard in discussion forums and blogs about the phenomenon and who happen to obtain some sponsorship code


Article on the company

Vente-privee is going abroad (Spain, Germany)
Vente-privee has reached 100 millions € in six month with 290 employees, 260 sales event, and is launching in Spain and Germany in September, is acquiring one more logistic center (20000 m2) in addition to their existing 30000 m2. Vente-privee is aware of competition but is betting on its experience of “destockage”. They work in direct with the luxury brands while others work with wholesales and as real shops. Brands are becoming more conscious that place where their articles are sold is important and that exclusive partnership will probably be the solution. Vente privee says that they are helping brands to keep the reputation of their image, to sell a lots more through them than on regular sale operation and finally that they are bringing the stock directly to the customers.
http://www.journaldunet.com/0608/060821-granjon.shtml

Vente-privee is broadening its public
http://absolufeminin.nouvelobs.com/mode/mode0065_041.html

Vente-privee is defending his success story in justice against followers
http://www.lexpansion.com/art/134.0.139855.0.html

Additional business opportunities
It seems that there is no limit to the type of products that can qualify for vente-privée as long as the brand is a known one.
Ex Selling cars online through vente-privee. Peugeot is experimenting the phenomenon.
http://www.journaldunet.com/0701/070118-peugeot-vente-privee.shtml


My comments:
It is important that vente privee keep the its sale or rather continue to give the impression of “exclusive”, “secret”, “selected”, “once in a while phenomenon”,… because its success has been built on those values and perception. If the phenomenon gets too much copied or common to the public, then it will be probably the downfall of vente privée and alikes since there will be no difference between them an a regular ecommerce company.

Ideas for extending the Long Tail

Pandora / myspace

For each type of music it can be interesting to understand and explore the universe around each of them (ex Disco, jazz, rock, soul, rap, reggae,...) and propose products which reminds the spirit and ambiance of that period:

Some examples are
- clothes used by the group and the fans during that period,
- accessories (necklaces, rings,..),
- films (ex Elvis presley's films),
- cars used,
- shows and exhibitions, radios links,
- voyage (ex jamaica for reggae),
- furniture and decors,
- implement own blog where sharing will be encouraged,
- newsletters about artists,
- petites annonces (ex dating),

These examples can extend the long tail effect of music distributors and can be applied to other fields

The Long Tail effect (Pandora & Nintendo)

Pandora: Your personnal DJ that helps you discover more music that you like
Pandora (www.pandora.com) is surfing on the long tail phenomenon. By chosing an artist (ex U2) it creates a radio for you which is going to play U2 songs but also proposes other similar artists (known and unknown artists) SugarBomb, Skin, Pink Floyd on whom one can switch to have a try !!
Of course if you like you can also buy the track through itunes or through Amazon.

For Norah Jones it also gives me a hint about people that listens to her and other artists
Ex People Listening to This Artist

dantila(also listening to: SheDaisy, Michelle Branch, Travis Tritt, undefined)
jeff@jefw.com(also listening to: The Jazz Crusaders, Dilated Peoples, Hank Mobley, undefined)

By doing so it's giving alternatives and choices to the user though the first choice was guided by a hit or a known and prefered artist.

Nintendo and Video games
The Wii console propose a "virtual console" that made it backwards compatible with Nintendo's entire back catalog.
From the annual report more than one game from the back catalog sold per connected Wii representing more than $10 million in Long Tail sales for the Wii's first month.
Former hits such as Mario 64 and Zelda are are today's niches. The reason they still qualify as Long Tail content is they're typically unavailable through the traditional distribution channel, whether that means out of print or just no longer stocked by retailers.
Nintendo is going to release loads more games through its online store, as well as all the other microcontent
Nintendo's new console will not only be backwards compatible, it will be way backwards compatible. As the release puts it, "The console also will have downloadable access to 20 years of fan-favorite titles originally released for Nintendo 64, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) and even the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)." Thanks to the fact that the original Nintendo Generation is now in their thirties and into 80s nostalgia, retro gaming is hot.
Archives = Long Tail.
See more interesting long tail phenomena and new trends for video games (Long Tail of videogames)