Making Retail Fun Again: Lessons in Engagement from Gilt Groupe
Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, Gilt Groupe
Interviewed by Divya Gugnani, Founder, Send the Trend
Retail is changing. Today’s consumer is savvy, deal-centric and socially driven. Building engagement and keeping the experience fresh is more important than ever before. Few companies have been more successful at this than Gilt Groupe, the pioneer in luxury-driven social flash sales. For millions, Gilt made shopping fun again, bringing back surprise, delight, status and sociability with astonishing results. In this unprecedented, intimate discussion, Alexandra Wilkins, co-founder of Gilt, discusses the secrets of building fun and engagement into the retail experience, shares her vision for the future of millennial-driven shopping and how to build an industry-leading loyalty program without giving discounts or free merchandise.
The Gamification Summit brings together top thought leaders in game mechanics and engagement science. Hear what works and what doesn't in this dynamic and fast-moving field through case studies, keynotes and panels delivered by experts such as Gabe Zichermann (Game-Based Marketing), James Gardner (Spigit), Jon Radoff (Disruptor Beam), Michael Wu (Lithium) and Alexandra Wilkis Wilson (founder of Gilt Groupe). Learn how game mechanics and the new science of engagement are rewriting the rules of brand marketing, product design and customer acquisition and get your business in the game.
Bio
Divya Gugnani
Alexandra Wilkis Wilson
Alexandra Wilkis Wilson is founder and chief merchandising officer of Gilt Groupe. She is on the forefront of revolutionizing the landscape of luxury e-commerce. Prior to co-founding Gilt Groupe, Alexandra ran operations at Bulgari, overseeing 15 North American stores. Before working at Bulgari, she ran leather goods sales planning for Louis Vuitton North America. Alexandra began her career in investment banking at Merrill Lynch, spending her time between New York, London and Latin America.
She subsequently entered the retail world working for retail guru Marvin Traub at Financo Inc. Alexandra holds a B.A. from Harvard College where she graduated Magna Cum Laude and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Alexandra speaks five languages. She is involved in a number of not for profits including: Dress for Success, Endeavor Global, Robin Hood Foundation and ProMujer. She is also an active fundraiser for her alma maters The Brearley School, Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University. Alexandra is an official mentor for Tech Stars and an unofficial mentor for many budding entrepreneurs.
Any mode of dressing or adornment that is popular during a particular time or in a particular place (i.e., the current style). It can change from one period to the next, from generation to generation. It serves as a reflection of social and economic status, a function that explains the popularity of many styles throughout costume history; in the West, courts have been a major source of fashion. In the 19th and 20th centuries, fashion increasingly became an profitable, international industry as a result of the rise of world-renowned fashion houses and fashion magazines. See alsodress.
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