October 27, 2009

editorial merchandising or competitive shopping?

GSI Commerce is buying Rue La La (competitor of competitive shopping site Gilt.com) for $350 mm. Here’s the money quote, so to speak, from Michael Rubin, CEO of GSI.

“What you are getting is completely addicted customers,” he said. “It’s completely viral. There are virtually no marketing costs in this business.”

And this from Scot Wingo, CEO of ChannelAdvisor:

“The nice thing about the deal sites is their selection complexity goes way down. That allows them to focus on picking sales very closely and driving values for customers interested in those deals.”

OK, maybe it’s not competitive shopping. Maybe it’s editorial merchandising. Or both? Either way, it’s worth watching…