For American readers and those who don't know about vente-privee.com, I would like to introduce you the story of this e retailer that is probably one the biggest success in the french internet industry.
Sales in France are controlled by the government that allow retailers to offer sales twice a year. But French laws allow retailers to have private sales, only reserved for its best clients. That regulation appeared whereas French small retailers were scared of the appearance of hypermarkets. With their size and skill to cut prices, the French government created this rule to prevent from any dumping actions in order to save small and local commerces.
Then the idea came up of venteprivees.com. The whole concept of the website is to offer sales all day long through the Internet to the client of the site. But how did they succeed in getting around the law?
Basicly, it works as a club, "vente privee" means private sales in French. You need to be referred by someone to get into the club. It is a free membership that allow you to shop the product in sales.
Basicly, anyone can find someone to sponsor him and then to get access to venteprivees.com. The concept works so well that it has been adapted to other sectors, such as the travel and tourism business with voyagesprivees.com.
Thus we can not really talk about a community or a real club because nothing really link these clients. They are only here to get discounts. So venteprivee.com used the powerful skills of the Internet to get around the French law of limitation of sales periods, and to create a success story.
Hope you like the story. If any French persons want to complete this story feel free to post comments.
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