Kaboodle.com Launches PopPicks, Community-Driven Online Fashion Sales

Today,  Kaboodle, one of the largest social shopping fashion websites online, launches PopPicks. PopPicks is a community-curated online sale that allows Kaboodle members and shoppers to decide what products they want to see offered at a special price before the sale happens.

What Is PopPicks?

PopPicks will be an ongoing program for Kaboodle. Offering  a new retail partner each week, PopPicks features a collection of products selected by Kaboodle editors in partnership with the featured retailer or brand.

Once products are selected, the Kaboodle community is invited to “heart” (vote for) the products they like best. After four days of voting, the most “hearted” products are made available for four days or until the reserved inventory is sold out. Once an item has sold out at the promotional price, Kaboodlers can still buy the product at its original price.

During voting and limited-time sales, Kaboodlers can invite friends to participate via Kaboodle’s peer-to-peer messaging system as well as on e-mail, Facebook, Twitter and other social platforms.

Moxsie, will be the inaugural launch partner. Additional participating launch partners in the coming weeks include other online fashion favorites, Karmaloop, Ssense, Ivy Blue and 80sPurple.

“As the leader in streetwear online, Karmaloop is always looking for exceptional programs that help us expand our footprint in a meaningful way,” said Natasha Chu, Karmaloop’s e-commerce manager.  “This partnership allows us to broaden our online presence through emerging technology and tap into an increasingly important social dynamic around shopping and purchasing.”

We discussed PopPicks with Shari Gunn, chief marketing officer at Kaboodle.

Macala Wright: How does PopPicks benefit the retailers or brands that participate in the program?

Shari Gunn: This is a unique and innovative marketing platform for our retail partners, allowing them to showcase their very best products and engage their target market in directly helping determine the sale.

The program also allows retailers to tell how well their apparel or accessories are received before they order large quantities. By not over ordering, retailers reduce the risk of having left over merchandise that would be hard to sell. The program also lets them see what trends will work before they commit to them.

The preorder and product voting features offer valuable consumers insights and analytics for program participants as well.

MW: Data? You just said our favorite word!

SG: Yes, as the program evolves, we will be able to provide aggregate information about consumer buying preferences and data that can used by a retailer’s buying team that impacts their forecasting and possibly alter their merchandising habits

MW: If a retailer or brand wanted to participate in PopPicks, would they do that? Are there prerequisites?

SG: The current partners are based on our affiliate program partnerships, but brands and retailers can contact us through the Kaboodle site if they feel they may be a good fit. We’d welcome any partner we fill would fit the community.

“At its core, Kaboodle has always been a way for shoppers to discover, share, and interact with products that have been vetted by other shoppers like them. This new feature extends community empowerment and amplifies their collective voice by allowing them to influence what, exactly, is featured during our exclusive sales events. It also provides an innovative e-commerce opportunity and a new revenue stream for Kaboodle.”

The FMM Verdict

We think PopPicks is a pretty cool twist on online or private sale model. We love how Kaboodle has integrated an exclusive sale within its current domain, and it’s a natural extension of it’s community platform. The fact that the private sales don’t offer items that are last season creates added value for shoppers. Instead of buying what’s left, they’re getting what’s first, hip and trending!

We also like how Kaboodle has found a model that incorporate the best features of Moxsie First and ModCloth. Crowdsourcing fashion design and incentivizing social sharing, what more could a fashion marketing girl want? Oh, wait – retail partners that I actually want to buy from! Oh wait…they offer that too! 80s Purple, Karmaloop, Kaboodle’s got moxsie (literally)!

Gilt incorporated smaller, lesser know brands and emerging designers once it discovered that their members wanted, and would purchase, them along with the big brand retailers that they carried.

Kaboodle started with independent brands and retailers, I guess their partnership with Etsy was a good indicator on how creative, emerging brands and retailers would resonate with their community members.

Unrelated brownie points: Etsy even taught their community member to use Kaboodle as  sales tool.