i don't want to offend because i think you do have a good sense of UI but having been following gilt for a while and heard interviews with the team, i would dare say the post under-sells their focus on UI. they do a lot of thinking of behind the sales funnel, and exactly what buttons to put where to help someone purchase under 2 minutes.

you're spot on about product-market fit. they kill it here. with the founding team's background, i'm not surprised. they knew what problem they had to solve at the start and it they've iterated but haven't deviated from it.

Ideeli, a similar site, does have a twitter account which I like. They post a twitpic of one of the items from their sale that day and it sometimes entices me to visit the sale…but they don’t have the same calibre of designers as Gilt.

In terms of cross sell, other companies, such as AXP, are just as guilty. It's so easy to assume what is relevant for a customer and effectively exploit the customer relationship, spamming them with un-wanted marketing. You're right, I've yet to Gilt go down this path.

many other sites like guilt exist – ideeli.com, ruelala.com, but they have made their platform a marketing channel with all sorts of cross-sell. As a marketer, you think that's a brilliant idea – you have a captive audience so why not make the most of it. However, if you are trying to create a 'gated' feel, cross sell of any kind simply sucks the cache out of your product / service.

Long story short – gilt knows what they are doing when they don't opt for flashy and fancy. They are focusing on bare bones, but the most important bones, so their product is exactly what you want, and nothing more.

But I suppose that this is the calling of every sample sale. I've only been to a sample sale once–and the line was around the block. Regarding chat, what if there was a forum for the sale preview…so that people could discuss the designer, their opinions of the fit/style, etc.? Wouldn't that add to the buying experience and the excitement that prevails when the items are for sale?

In terms of cross sell, other companies, such as AXP, are just as guilty. It's so easy to assume what is relevant for a customer and effectively exploit the customer relationship, spamming them with un-wanted marketing. You're right, I've yet to Gilt go down this path.

many other sites like guilt exist – ideeli.com, ruelala.com, but they have made their platform a marketing channel with all sorts of cross-sell. As a marketer, you think that's a brilliant idea – you have a captive audience so why not make the most of it. However, if you are trying to create a 'gated' feel, cross sell of any kind simply sucks the cache out of your product / service.

Long story short – gilt knows what they are doing when they don't opt for flashy and fancy. They are focusing on bare bones, but the most important bones, so their product is exactly what you want, and nothing more.

But I suppose that this is the calling of every sample sale. I've only been to a sample sale once–and the line was around the block. Regarding chat, what if there was a forum for the sale preview…so that people could discuss the designer, their opinions of the fit/style, etc.? Wouldn't that add to the buying experience and the excitement that prevails when the items are for sale?