Fashion Web site Glam.com debuts
By JCK Online Staff -- JCK Online, 9/15/2005 2:00:00 AM
Glam.com, a new Web site that combines the look of a magazine with an e-commerce component, made its debut at New York Fashion Week.
A pre-release version of the luxury fashion shopping site, whose pages look a lot like Lucky or In Style, recently went live, Women's Wear Daily reports. The official launch date is Monday. Glam Media Inc. has signed up 50 retail and brand partners, including Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Saks Fifth Avenue, eLuxury, Macy's, and Target.
When a shopper clicks through to a retailer's site and buys a featured sweater or lip gloss, the retailer pays Glam.com a commission of 12 to 24 percent, the fashion publication reports. That's about twice the price most affiliate sites charge. Fashion companies also can advertise on the site.
The site eventually will have thousands of free-form and templated pages, all of which look hand-coded, but are generated automatically by Glam.com's proprietary software and can be quickly updated when an item runs out, WWD reports. The site will be continually updated with a continuous live data feed of photos and product attributes describing items for sale on the Web sites of its retail partners. Glam.com's merchandisers and editors pick the products they want to feature.
Editorial content will include product layouts grouped around themes such as "best boots" or the color orange, the WWD reports. The site also features "style profiles" about celebrities and advice from stylists and other fashion insiders. Shoppers can take quizzes on subjects such as which colors best fits their moods, and then view products sorted according to test results. A social networking component is reportedly being added this year.
Glam Media Inc. of Brisbane, Calif., has received $11 million in venture capital backing from Accel Partners, Draper Fisher Juverston, Walden Venture Capital, and Information Capital, WWD reports. Glam founder and chairman Samir Arora is also chairman of Information Capital. Vice president and publishing director Carl Portale was previously publisher at the Elle Group, Harper's Bazaar, Mirabella, and Town & Country. The company reportedly has about 40 employees.
