You have over 12 years experience in luxury goods and retail under your belt. What took you into retail in the first place?
I spent a lot of time trying to understand the fashion industry and everything that came with it, the mingling the networking, and I started working at Louis Vuitton in a management and business training programme. I was in the store and working directly with the customer, it was a tough experience but it was great to interact every minute of every day to understand how they shop.
When you started Gilt in 2007, how did Alexis and yourself come together to launch the venture? What was the primary goal behind Gilt?
The idea of Gilt was to bring to life through e-commerce the excitement of a sample sale. For years I’ve been a sample sale shopper, especially working at LVMH, I would go to all the sample sales which was pretty amazing! That was pretty much the idea to make this happen. To launch Gilt we needed a variety of skill sets. I came with the relationships and understanding of fashion, Alexis had been at eBay and she pulled everything together from the technology, to consumer experience and the operation. We were a small team and we were on to a good idea but not every idea is executable.
As long time friends, how do you find working together in the daily running of the business?
I think when you start a business with someone who you trust and know it makes a real difference. I think it’s a common message to hear when you’re putting together a team that you want complementary skill sets, it’s true but obvious. Alexis and I have different personalities. I’m detailed and organised and Alexis is a big picture thinker and we need that balance because you don’t want everyone to look at business in the same way, you want different ways of approaching different situations.
E-commerce is increasingly becoming a vital tool within the industry and competition is high. How do GILT distinguish themselves amongst the e-commerce arena?
There are many ways that we distinguish ourselves. From our early days we spent a lot of attention on photography. Two years ago we put a lot of emphasis that Ready-To-Wear was shot on models. Today that doesn’t seem radical but back then no one ever shot on models. We had a lot of tiny aspects that we thought were worth investigating in to bring the clothes to life. From our very early days our site was always perceived as high end luxury, ironically we were selling deeply discounted fashion. I think the photography and the caliber makes all the difference. It is a very high quality brand.
Your members only site gives insider access to top designer labels at up to 60% off retail prices. What does the future hold for GILT? Do you see the website stocking designer goods at retail prices?
Our company is only just over 4 years old and in that short amount of time we have really innovated a lot. We listen to our members and customers and take in their feedback. We started with Women’s and moved on to Men’s because that’s what the customer demanded. We then introduced Home and Kids and now we offer Travel which includes luxury hotels and villas around the world. It made sense because our customers shop for that too.
Jet Setter currently offers full price and if we were to ever offer full retail for Women’s it would have to be for something truly special for example an exclusive capsule, a preview or an exclusive.
You’ve got a great personal presence online in terms of your social media outlets. How important do you think it is for people to be involved in the likes of Twitter and Facebook in this day and age?
I think it’s very important to be connected, depending on what your business is. That’s where your customer is, that’s where they spend there time and if you have an e-commerce business; you want to get involved in the conversation. Alexis and I both do, we have customer support on twitter (@GiltSupport) where we get involved in all customer issues, and its been really effective. Customers are not expecting that and over time it may be more customary with other brands but I think we’ve been pretty much a leader in terms of offering that service through social media. The beauty about social media for start ups is that it’s free, it’s incredibly free! If you are savvy and honest and direct with communicating with your customer you can really make a big difference. Follow Alexandra on Twitter.
Fashion month is almost upon us, do you normally attend the international shows to get a feel of what’s to come for next season?
I will definitely be at all of New York Fashion Week. I love to see the trends and it’s a great way to interact with the fashion community to remind people of Gilt’s presence. We’re very supportive of the fashion industry and we help designers on a regular basis so it’s nice to go and show your support and it’s so exciting to see the collection put together and go down the catwalk. Its amazing that in that short window of time when a collection is coming down the runway, that it can really make or break a designer’s season or year, it’s incredible to be a part of that.
Who are your favourite UK based designers?
From the UK, I like Alexander McQueen and Burberry from a marketing, social media and global perspective, and to sidetrack slightly their offices are spectacularly impact-full! From Peter Pilotto, to Erdem and Stella McCartney there is so much fashion coming out of london and the UK. The nice thing about Gilt is that we really offer our members a breath of designers for people living in the UK. Our prices for the American brands are incredible compared to companies in the UK which can charge up to three time the price. The value is a best kept secret right now!
Five Five Fabulous have heard exclusively from Alexandra that she and Alexis are writing a book together on how they built Gilt and changed customer behaviour . ‘By Invitation Only’ comes out on April 12th.