TPS Shopping Outlet Pvt Ltd, which runs fashion flash sales site ThePrivateSales.com, has raised $5 million in first round of funding from an unknown Indian investor. TPS Shopping Outlet is a Bangalore-based e-commerce start-up, which was set up in June, 2010. It will use the funds to increase the number of brands in ThePrivateSales.com’s’ kitty as well as to roll out another luxury fashion portal.
ThePrivateSales.com is a members-only fashion flash sales site. One can join the site by invitation only. Other similar fashion flash sites are 99labels.com, Fashionandyou.com, Exclusively.in and Brandmile.com. Flash sales sites offer a discount on a particular product only for a limited period of time. ThePrivateSales.com has brands like Moschino, Hugo Boss, Versace and Gucci on its virtual shelf. It currently offers 140 global brands to its members and plans to take that number to 400 to 500 brands.
“Our goal is to bring high fashion brands to India and offer our customers a good online experience. We will invest to consolidate our business, ensure growth and enhance relationships with international brands,” Sajan Gianchandani, co-founder, TPS Shopping Outlet Pvt Ltd, told Techcircle.in.
The website gives upto 80% discounts on top brands. The items on its list are mostly end-of-line, surplus and clearance items. ThePrivateSales.com has 4 lac registered members. It is also taking a few marketing initiates to increase its visibility. It is hosting a fashion show in Bangalore on June 5.
Other fashion portals also have raised funds in recent past. 99labels.com raised $3.5 million last week from Info Edge (India) Ltd, which runs recruitment site Naukri.com. FashionandYou.com, another seller of luxury labels, raised $8 million from Sequoia Capital in December.
The one advantage that fashion portals have over brick-and-mortar outlets is that they don’t have to invest in real estate. They also help in democratization of fashion by making global brands available to towns and small cities which are otherwise inaccessible to them.
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