The Outnet Arrives - A Good or Bad Thing?

From the creators of Net-a-porter, The Outnet discount retailer went live today.

Quality discount clothing from a quality website owner. No loose pieces of lint, no dramatic catfights, no torn dresses, no overcrowded meltdowns, and no bitchy shoppers to deal with.The joys of shopping online. The only frustration I encounter regularly, even if I’m not purchasing, is how lightning fast online shoppers are in clicking those “Add To Cart” buttons.

Even during these massive discount times and that I don’t like discounts in general, I applaud Net-a-porter’s approach in offering only last Spring’s styles instead of this year’s. I’m also assuming last year’s fall collection will end up on the Outnet in a few months. They seem to be sticking to the traditional formula in offering the discount much later rather than only a few weeks online. How that will play to their advantage, however, will remain to be seen. Most physical stores on the retail playground are no longer adhering to traditional sale seasons due to the recession. I’m not quite sure if the same rules apply to online stores in general, such as online counter parts like Banana Republic seem to echo their prices as to what goes on the retail sales floor, so it’s difficult to say if original prices have a longer shelf-life online.

Outnet also offers sort of an Ideeli-like “flash sale” where deep discounts on certain items will only last for 72 hrs. The first of it’s kind is 8 days from now, a bundle of Spring dresses.

Granted, the Outnet is not that much different from other online discount retailers or the high end department stores who have sales of their own on their website. Here, they have to tread carefully. In today’s Wall Street Journal, Death to Discounts? The Designers Rebel, deep discounts are rifting the relationship between department stores and their designers. If retailers are too eager to put items on sale, designers may look for alternative solutions to keep discounts to a minimum and may look to open their own retail corner to control prices and keep some integrity over their products.

So, will The Outnet aggravate the already fragile relationship between consumer and designer? Only time will tell if it will survive this year’s price wars.

Image credit: The Outnet