Groupon (GRPN 24.93%) announced today it has acquired fashion flash sale retailer ideeli for $43 million in cash, allowing it to further extend itself into the online fashion and apparel industries.
ideeli is an online retail site that allows its members to have access to men's and women's fashion apparel and accessions as well home decor from some of the leading brands at significant savings from retail prices. ideeli was founded in 2007 and is based in New York.
"We are thrilled to add ideeli and their team to our company. Ideeli extends our fashion presence and brings great relationships with many of the top brands in apparel," said the CEO of Groupon Eric Lefkofsky. "Our customers have a demonstrated appetite for these offers, and by broadening our reach in this space Groupon is even better positioned as the place you start when you want to do or buy just about anything, anytime, anywhere."
In addition to accelerating Groupon's presence in fashion, the release highlighted that ideeli also "brings a growing mobile presence and expertise in the flash sale shopping space with considerable room for growth."
In 2011, Nordstrom acquired flash sale fashion site Hautelook for $180 million in stock and Amazon also announced it would launch its own flash sale site MyHabit in May of that year.
"Groupon's brand, reach and vision as an e-commerce destination make it a tremendous place to continue to grow our company," said ideeli CEO Stefan Pepe. "We look forward to bringing the great deals we offer to Groupon customers."
ideeli will remain in New York following the acquisition, and it will also continue to operate as its own separate website. In addition, it is offering 20% off any purchases made on its website through tomorrow to celebrate the acquisition.
