The Privalia Group says combined online revenues from its private club Privalia and outlet store Dress-for-Less increased 90% between 2010 and 2011, to reach 320 million euros ($395 million).
Its main business, Privalia.com, offers flash sales of high-end fashion brands to its members at up to 70% off retail prices.
The Barcelona-based company, founded in 2006, says it has more than 10 million registered members across its online fashion retail operations in Spain, Italy, Germany, Brazil and Mexico.
Privalia’s founders, Lucas Carné and José Manuel Villanueva, attribute its success over the past year to adding online outlet shops that offer deep discounts, more emphasis on marketing via social media and a new mobile commerce site.
“In 2011, we entered into online outlets with the acquisition of Dress-For-Less,” Crane and Villanueva say in a joint statement. “We also spread our business model to online travel sales with the launch of Prvialia Travel, and tested and created a new brand, Claire+Bruce—a full-price sales channel for brands associated with the group.”
The retailer also created a mobile site last year and began selling through its Facebook page via its Fan Shop application.
Carné and Villanueva say the group now plans to focus on international expansion, although they did not which countries Privalia is targeting.
The brand also plans to focus more on full-price clothing. Claire+Bruce—Privalia Group’s new full-price apparel and accessory e-commerce site—launched in March, offering products from 70 apparel and accessory brands. It plans to grow that number to 150 later this year. With Claire+Bruce, the group is shifting away from heavily discounted flash sales and outlets to the online equivalent of a luxury department store.
“With the launch of Claire+Bruce, the Privalia Group is continuing its diversification strategy across different segments of online fashion retail,” Villanueva says.
Villanueva says Privalia wants to cater to as many types of online shoppers as possible.
“Our aim is to offer an increasingly wide-ranging service to members and satisfy the demands of those who buy by impulse, those who choose online shopping because of its convenience, and now—with Claire+Bruce—those online consumers who seek service, comfort, a wide product range, and sought-after brands,” Villanueva says.