Gilted into Splurging

Recently I went perusing online for birthday gift ideas and happened to stumble upon a little gem of a website called Gilt Groupe. The website hosts designer sales for a certain period of time at extremely discounted prices. The only issue is when certain items go on sale there may only be a few sizes at that price and then they sell out. This is a genius marketing ploy for the discount-savvy fashionista because they will be willing to spend money at that discounted price. This also goes back to the idea of spending more than you planned through promotions , sales, etc. When you see designer jeans for half the price you are more likely to buy two pairs. But, do you actually need two new pairs of jeans? I guess that depends on the person.

So upon finding this site I reacted like a little kid in a candy shop looking at everything sparkly and shiny on the website from Cole Haan shoes to Paige jeans to John Hardy Jewelry. Now this is where I got suckered into the ploy. On any other website I could have deferred my purchase till later or used the convenient “share with a friend” button to send the items to whomever. But, that wasn’t the case here. Because if you do “share with a friend” then the item may be sold out by the time the “friend” sees it. It’s almost like risky shopping in that are you really willing to wait and see for the item if someone else buys it?  It’s tempting and enticing to want to “win” the designer product and beat out the other shoppers which turns into impulse buying.

Now, I may be late to jump on the Gilt trend boat but when I discovered it was more than women’s fashion I was amazed. Jetsetter lifestyle, bedding, city stuff and more my impulsive side was trying to take over and justify a trip to Vero Beach for less than the “normal” price but probably about the same price as any major competitive travel booking site. As the rational and business side of me was back in control I begin to think of what an enterprise this truly is. Warehouses of designer clothes and shoes and bags and jewelry, all at discounts but only a certain amount bought for each size. Hundreds of thousands of people registered to shop for those few items and trips and most receiving reminder emails. It truly is a game of reaction time and risk of waiting or buying to get what you want (but may not need).

Needless to say, a few items later I may have splurged but at least I was conscientious enough to notice how easily I was sucked into an appealing site and that sometimes the main story is too good to be true. Even the website name, Gilt, makes you feel like you can splurge a little more and that feeling guilty is acceptable. 

Chrissy Moreyra is a senior Business & Enterprise Management major and marketing concentration who has seven days of classes remaining for her undergraduate career.