Flash sales giant Gilt Groupe is announcing major expansion plans to today, with the company’s e-commerce offering extending to over 90 countries. Additionally, Gilt will offer international customers free shipping for a limited time.
Gilt’s international sites will offer daily flash sales on women’s men’s and kids clothes and accessories, as well as home decor items through its Home vertical. Each sale contains a limited amount of inventory and lasts roughly 36 hours. Gilt says that nearly 50 percent of merchandise is sold during the first hours of a sale. The company’s recently launched luxury retail site for men, Park & Bond, will be made available to international customers next month.
Also starting next month, Gilt members outside of the U.S. will be able to shop and purchase from from their mobile devices through Gilt’s mobile website and iPad, iPhone and Android applications. Gilt says it is working with FiftyOne, an e-commerce platform that helps power international expansion and operations for online retailer, to enable international transactions, currency conversion, and international delivery.
International expansion is a big move for Gilt, so it should be interesting to see how the availability in over 90 countries around the world effects the company’s revenue. Gilt closed a $138 million round at about a $1 billion valuation last May and is on track to do $500 million in revenues this year. And an IPO may be in the company’s near future.