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Hot date two weeks fromtoday? Can’t wear that boring cardigan or that drab blouse? Nothing in yourcloset worthy? Running on the last bit of money from your allowance and notwilling to make a run to Stonestown to spend the lot purchasing an outfit? Wellhere’s your solution: online shopping.
Since the dot-com boom of the nineties, retailers have beensearching for ways to expand and reach new audiences. One concept, onlineshopping, has survived the bust of the dot-com era. Online shopping is not onlyconvenient for the average busy person, but can also provide relief for theirwallets.
With a couple clicks of the mouse,consumers can compare products like Levi’s with other brands, find qualityGladiator sandals and grab a few cute accessories from a worldwide market, allby searching the web. “When the new Kobe IV’s came out I was looking everywhereto find a good deal, and I did on Ebay.” senior Raymond Yu said, “They weresupposed to be about $150 but it turned out that the guy I bought it from wasfrom Lowell too, so he gave me a discount.”
With the recent slump in oureconomy, consumers are more willing to spend money through online shopping. InJanuary of this year, Forrester Research, a technology and market researchcompany, had forecast an 11 percent jump in total U.S. online sales to $156billion, a 6 percent slice of the overall retail pie.
Among the many sites, here are afew that have stood out for their unique and palatable variety.
Karmaloop
Karmaloop(karmaloop.com), founded in 1999 by GregSelkoe, is an independently owned, online retailer that specializes in reachingthe international underground fashion and lifestyle. It carries over 100streetwear brands such as 555 Soul, Adidas, Burton, Paul Frank, Tokidoki, Nike,LRG and Obey to name a few. Karmaloop also supports 45 other independentretailers, under the alias of Karmaloop Kazbah.
With such success, it is hard toimagine that approximately 10 years ago, Karmaloop started out as aone-man-operated business based in a “warehouse” located in the basement ofSelkoe’s parents’ house. Since its rise from humble beginnings to a successfulonline shopping site for teens and young adults, Karmaloop consistently offersconsumers a variety of urban streetwear brands and hip products. Armed with astreet team that serves as brand ambassadors in over 35 countries worldwide,Karmaloop is able to market fashion brands influenced by themes in popularculture. “Karmaloop’s success can be attributed to always being on the cuttingedge and having a hard-working knowledgeable staff,” lifestyle marketingdirector Giovannah Chiu said.
Another “what a deal” factor thatbrings teens to Karmaloop is the occasional 65 to 85 percent-off warehousesales. “We have a markdown manager who checks what’s selling and what’s not,then we have a huge warehouse sale to get rid of excess inventory from lastseason,” assistant buyer Jennifer Lee said.
Karmaloop’s headquarters is locatedin downtown Boston, Massachusetts.
ModCloth
ModCloth (modcloth.com), founded by Susan Gregg-Koger in 2002, is arelatively new online shopping spot, but is certainly rising in popularity. Asa teen, Gregg-Koger had spent her weekends and summers shopping at thriftstores or creating clothes with friends. “While her talent as a seamstressnever came to fruition, she soon found success as an entrepreneur,” ModCloth’spress coordinator Alicia Barnes said. With the help of her then-boyfriend andnow husband, Eric Koger, she started a business selling the clothes she boughtthat weren’t her size, which eventually expanded to an online businessproducing and selling vintage-inspired clothes to computer shoppers.
According to the ModCloth website,Gregg-Koger travels worldwide to trade shows seeking talented lesser-knowndesigners and carrying their unique clothing designs. Gregg-Koger and her teamof buyers have visited various American cities, as well as places like Berlin,Barcelona and other European countries. ModCloth also orders vintage-inspireditems from independent designers who fit the style and ideals of the founders.
Among the different clothing offered on ModCloth is an uniquecategory labeled One-of-a-Kind. “The one-of-a-kind category grew out of Susan’sinitial thrifting habit,” Barnes said. Items like a vintage Tennis Pro Skirt ora Banana Peel Heel can be found in thrift shops, flea markets, garage sales andestate sales. “The one-of-a-kind items are beloved by our customers and usuallysell out within hours of going live on the website,” Barnes said.
Threadless
Threadless (threadless.com) is an online design community run by skinnyCorp ofChicago, Illinois, where users can submit original designs for tee-shirts soother users can comment, critique and vote on their favorites. Membership isfree and popular designs are produced for purchase. Founder and Chief SalesOfficer, Jake Nickell, once won a tee-shirt design competition for an event inLondon and was inspired, along with friend Jacob DeHart, to create Threadless.Producing clothes that feature designs submitted by participating artists istheir way of giving back to the community.
On Threadless, designers can uploadtheir designs to the website, where members of the community and visitors scorethe designs on a scale of zero to five. After a seven-day period, the mostpopular designs are evaluated by the staff and some are selected to be madeinto a limited run of shirts. When shirts are sold out, customers can request areprint which occurs when there is a considerable demand. Not only do designersget to see their work on fabric, they also receive $2,000 in cash, a $500 giftcertificate and an additional $500 for every reprint.
Threadless also allows customers toget to know the successful artists, under “Designer Interviews.” There,customers can see other winning designs and tee shirts.
“It’svery satisfying: I’ve seen a few people wearing my designs so that’s prettycool,” Glenn Jones, a New Zealand artist who had submitted several winningdesigns. “I think it’s incredible exposure for designers to showcase their workto the world,” Jones said.Fromthe exposure on Threadless, Jones has been able to start a store in theU.S.
HauteLook
If designer brands are more your style, then maybeyou should try HauteLook (hautelook.com).HauteLook is a free membership clubthat mainly sells premium brands for 50-75 percent off of retail prices. Onceyou login and enter the site, HauteLook will offer you a little more than adozen brands such as Lisa Curran, viv&ingrid, Josh Brody, Nest and MichelleVale. Each sale has a start and end date and time. HauteLook allows members tobuy directly from the brand sites, which means no extra cost from adistribution channel. Eliminating the several layers of middlemen cuts the costof the clothing down significantly.
HauteLookalso keeps members informed about approaching sales in free daily email alerts.HauteLook also has its own online magazine with customized brand videos andstill photos, which updates members on the latest market trends.
HauteLook’s team of brand experts reviewbrands and their collections, eventually working with the designers to set asales event featuring an agreeable price giving members up to 75 percent offretail. The HauteLook team chooses the items which will be reserved for thesale and after the end date of the sale period, HauteLook will send the finalorder to the brands who will send the goods to HauteLook’s warehouse. HauteLookalso has a button where the members can click to get more information about thedesigners.
The online life — you’ll spend $80instead of $260 for a fashionable Chaiken “Stefani Dress” and have the pleasureof a package waiting on your doorstep. Now you can primp for your hot date withBobby at the beach and have enough cash left over to grab a cab in case thedate goes bad.
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