Private shopping club

An online private shopping club is a members only shopping club, where members can buy goods at high discounts. Private shopping clubs organise sales events for its members that typically last 2 to 6 days. Because they are private they protect the brand owners distribution channels, brand and price points. To become a member, one typically needs to be invited by another member. There are several clubs where this important criteria is not fulfilled, strictly speaking they are no private shopping clubs. They are just an online shop or a public shopping club.

The business model of private shopping clubs has been started in France by the market leader vente-privee. It has since then been adopted by a variety of clubs globally.

Variations of shopping clubs are: Free for members vs. Membership fee, Different membership levels vs. One level for all or Premium brands vs. hard discounts. Shopping clubs operate in various categories (fashion, travel, electronics etc) and segments (Premium brands, bargain basement, Gen Y, Gen X, etc).