5 standout features of theOutnet.com

So Net-a-Porter's discount brand, TheOutnet, launched last week and of course I was all over it. My agency has been involved in the launch activity but this e-commerce site is the work of their in-house team.

TheOutnet.com is essentially a designer clearance site that's aiming for those aspirational shoppers who want designer brands but not pay the full price. I think it's an interesting concept and it's definately right for these difficult times, but when all's said and done, how well does the site function?

Overall, I liked it. I thought the functionality is pretty similar to it's big sister site (net-a-porter.com) with strong branding site-wide. I've always thought that the net-a-porter site is amongst the best for fashion eCommerce so I'm glad they've followed on with a similarly well thought out website.

I picked up on 5 things that I really liked about it:

1. The Mini Shopping Basket

When adding products to your basket, the site keeps a visual representation of your items in plain site. Nice feature when buying multiple products.

2. Low Stock Indicators

I've seen these before, but I think they're executed pretty well here. Nice way of closing the deal and encouraging that purchase decision.

3. Big Savings

If a customer is saving BIG on their purchase, then make a big deal about it. TheOutnet.com does just that. I like.

4. Packaging

The beautiful packaging that a lot of the luxury retailers provide with their products is all part of the brand and the service. I know of people who buy from a particular online store over another purely for the packaging. TheOutnet takes advantage of this and although the bag isn't as glamorous as net-a-porter's, it is re-usable and they're displaying it at the point of purchase.

5. Branding

It's everywhere! Some might say that they're over-using the circles, but in my opinion, I'd rather they were over branding than not branding at all. Perhaps over time they'll drop these or at least dilute their usage, but for now i think it makes an impact and certainly stands out from the crowd.

Be great to hear anyone else's thoughts on this. You know what to do..

See, browse & buy – all in a banner?

Transactional banners are back in the headlines. Adgregate Markets' ShopAds transactional banner ad technology is being made available to customers of Google's DoubleClick division.

The concept of a transactional banner is simple: customers can browse and purchase products directly from a banner on a third party website without ever having to leave the page the banner is on.

When these were first heralded as the future of e-commerce, you can bet that we were all over it. A few years later and there was still no sign of these transformational widgets. Tailgate Technologies were first to market this technology in 2007 but it’s unclear how effective they were at generating sales. I’ve certainly never come across one of these banners – and I’m one of those people who actually like banner ads (I also like tv ads – go figure).


This latest announcement means that customers of DoubleClick will now be able to integrate the ShopAds’ e-commerce functionality into any of its banner ads. According to Adgregate Markets CEO Henry Wong, its own ad network has about 12 million unique visitors monthly with 1 million of these ShopAds embedded across the web.

So will it take off? Will customers feel safe in purchasing from a banner on a potentially unknown third party website?

I’ll stick my neck out and say yes.

Once people get over the tech and possible security issues, I think these banners will become a key revenue stream for the right brands. Initially, this type of transaction would be perfect for the lower value goods – certainly not the high-end luxury sector. Impulse buys, micro-payment items, electronic tickets, downloadable purchases will be first to benefit.

When confidence grows, and the technology advances, who knows what will be possible.

This is precisely why I love the Internet. A constant flow of game changing innovations that turn what we get accustomed to on its head!

I’d love to hear other people’s views on these…so please feel free to comment below.