Flash sales: a better way to sell clothes or a short-lived Recession strategy?

Flash sales bring up all sorts of interesting shopper behaviors – some which are very new to shopper culture, and some which have been around longer. Buyer’s remorse, for example, has been around a long time – about as long as people have been exchanging goods and services for currency (in one of its many historic forms). But “hot-state” decision-making: decisions that are made within time constraints and spurred by competition – are veritable pressure-cookers for consumers. And they’re being used more and more in the retail space.
In our first Whitepaper in this series we explore prominent Flash Sales brands including Ideeli, Gilt, RueLaLa and HauteLook, the tactics they use to get shoppers to buy, and the result on shopper brand perception and affinity. We’ll follow up this paper with one on bricks and mortar department stores version of flash sales, and explore long-term effects on shopping culture. Your comments are always welcome.