Last month we wrote about 1-800-Flowers, Godiva Chocolatier and Eddie Bauer using technology from Narrative Communications Corp. to bring impulse buying to the Web by allowing for purchases within a banner ad (“Right Out of the Banner,” June, page 20).
Another company, Impulse! Buy Network, has a similar plan to lasso impulse buyers. The Burlingame, CA outfit is creating a network of limited-time offers branded as “On Impulse!”
Currently in beta in the apparel section of the Visa Shopping Guide by Yahoo! (shopguide. yahoo.com), Impulse! has 50 merchants signed up so far, including Garden Escape, Hammacher Schlemmer, Hickory Farms, J. Crew, Packard Bell and Wal-Mart.
“From a direct marketing perspective, we’re a pure-play customer-acquisition tool,” says Impulse! president/CEO Mark H. Goldstein. “The idea is to challenge direct marketers to put up great offers. The Gap is going to offer inexpensive khakis. J. Crew has been offering jeans and sweaters at half the normal price. The customer acquisition cost is a hell of a lot cheaper than with any other method.”
The merchant creates deals by setting the sale’s quantity, time frame and price (guaranteed to be lower than on the seller’s own site). Impulse! will distribute the deals throughout the Web (it hopes to have 300 sites in the network by the end of summer).
Goldstein says he will track what products are selling best and give them the highest profile: “The better deal gets the better distribution.” He advises merchants to start with their best loss-leader product as a way to build up their customer database.
Impulse! will use the data on buying preferences to target future offers (it is already working with Metromail Corp. on overlays).
Merchants pay $1,000 per month and a commission on each sale to use the service; most of the commission goes to the content site.
A major advantage for J. Crew, says its new media director Brian Sugar, is getting on Yahoo! and paying only for the sales (charter members get the first 60 days free). “We’re subleasing space on Yahoo! for cheaper than we could ever get it [7-1/2% on sales]. And I’m a big fan of performance-based advertising. I think it’s the only way to go for companies with a big brand like J. Crew.”
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