Shop it to Me has been a staple in my daily life for about a year now. Shop it to Me issues custom email sale alerts tailored to your interests as frequently as you want (I get one every day!). You pick what types of items you want to be notified about, which brands, and which sizes. As their slogan goes, it's "better than a sample sale!" This summer, Style by Samantha was accepted as one of the site's Trendsetter blogs. I recently interviewed Tamra Krefman about Shop it to Me to learn more about how the site works and how you can take advantage of it! Here's what she had to say:
How did the idea for Shop it to Me come about?
Our Founder/President Charlie just loves sales, and always has. He says that once ecommerce started to emerge, a lot of great sales started to appear online. Unfortunately, he would find out about most of these only after the sales expired or when they ran out of stock. So he started Shop It To Me as a way of putting in your preferences and getting notified exactly when the items you like go on sale in your size!
How does the site find the deals for users each day?
We spent a good amount of time working on the exact algorithm to best show the items that interest you. There's actually a lot of smart technology behind the scenes to make sure the items you see are items that interest you. We check the retailer sites each morning and reflect the sale items that we find that meet your preferences in your customized Salemail.
Is there any cooperation on the part of the retailers?
Yes, we have established relationships with over 100 retailers, and hand-select each one. We do our best to ensure that our subscribers will have great experiences when they purchase an item from the various retailers. We are constantly adding more retailers and brands (each week!), from larger department stores to smaller online-only boutiques.
What retailers will we be seeing soon at Shop it to Me?
We are continuing to add more and more retailers each week -- some of the recent additions have been smaller online-only boutiques (such as Singer22, BlueBee, Fashion Chateau, and more), which I personally find exciting because you can often find some of the hot contemporary labels at prices you have to blink to believe. We're continuing to add more of these smaller and lesser-known sites, and in addition to seeing great items, you can learn about awesome stores this way.
What are some popular features of Shop it to Me and what features are being added?
Well there are a few features that stand out:
- In addition to the "Featured brands" list that you first see when you sign up, if you click on "Show All Brands" you'll see over 500+ brands with some lesser-known labels.
- You can log in and manage your profile at any time. In addition to changing your brands, you can also set maximum price ceilings (never show me items over $200) or minimum discount %s (never show items under 40% off).
- And my favorite personal feature is the 'Ask A Friend' feature! Beneath each item in each Shop It To Me email you receive, there is a small envelope icon. If you click on this, it will bring up a form where you can send the item to a friend for their advice. When your friend gets the notification, they can mark the item as a 'thumbs up,' 'maybe,' or 'thumbs down,' and leave you comments about their thoughts. I love this feature -- I can instantly get feedback from friends before I go out and make fashion splurges! [It's] also great when I see something that isn't ideal for me, but I think a friend may love. The power of suggestion....
As for upcoming features, we're exploring many things that will keep your Salemail and your experience with Shop It To Me even more fun, exciting, and convenient. I can't say much now -- but follow our blog (blog.shopittome.com) or on Twitter (www.twitter.com/ShopItToMe) and you'll soon find out!
You've added Shop it to Me Running; any plans to add another division?Running is great because it allows fanatical runners to find great clothing and even shoes down to the model at a discount. We're definitely looking into expanding into other categories in the months ahead -- Shop It To Me could work for a range of products...you'll have to stay tuned...
I've got to ask: do you get your own Shop it to Me sale alerts?Of course! And I am so addicted. I have also set up profiles for others important in my life -- each one is different (mens clothing, kids clothing, etc). Some of my personal favorite categories to search for are bags, shoes, and denim. I tend to get my basics on Shop It To Me (tees and basic sweaters from JCrew, Banana, Vince, etc) and also some more fashion/trend pieces that I just can't resist. I have become quite the online shopper...receive packages almost daily! By now, both the UPS, FedEx, and DHL delivery people know me well!
Well I have to say, I am disappointed in many fall collections. Although one of the handbags featured here is Marc by Marc Jacobs, I find many of the new accessories to be in very poor taste and not stylish at all (come on, staples and nails??). J. Crew is trying too hard to enter into the haute couture echelon and no longer producing fabric bags with cute prints. Banana Republic's bags are more boring with each season. Same goes for Michael Kors. That said, these five bags make my heart flip! If only I could afford them all! So, while this list is short, it is sparing you all the disappointing bags I digitally rummaged through to find these ones! From left:via Shopbop - I just got my first laptop this summmer and when I saw this bag in Lucky magazine I knew it would be perfect. Priced at over $600, I certainly won't be purchasing it but I entered to win one at Lucky Lookout. I love the travel tags and the vintage look of the bag!
- Coach has a new shape, and it's Zoe! It's unlike any other Coach bag I've seen which I like. The size is perfect - not too big, not too small.
- I'm a fan of slingpacks designed to go over the shoulder. I think it's a cool idea. It's like a mini messenger bag, but it's girly because clearly it's a handbag!
