reveal auction

We don’t have to tell you that many entrepreneurs have been revolutionizing the future of e-commerce. Like Frank Han, CEO of Swoopo said in our interview,

“I like to think about Swoopo as being apart of this e-commerce 2.0 revolution that includes Woot, the Gilt Groupe, Groupon & LivingSocial. I think that penny auctions fall into this next generation, not your mother’s Amazon. It’s a different way to interact with products, services and deals.”

Traditional retailers have been applying entertainment shopping aspects to offer a unique and engaging customer experience. For instance, Yazooli.com‘s (formerly known as CircusPop)  PennyDrop is now being used by retailers and brands such as Forever 21, Drugstore.com, eBags, Red Mango and True Religion.

ToVieFor.com applied the Dutch auction concept to sell designer handbags and was even chosen to attend this year’s TechCrunch Disrupt.

Now, just recently, SnappyTuna.com, a sample sale site for kitchenware, changed their daily deal platform to that of a reveal price (Dutch auction). Similar to the price drop auctions on Yazooli,  but more like ToVieFor in that you only pay a one-time fee (starting at $0.99/credit) to see the price of an item.

Dutch auctions, also known as a “price drop” or “reveal” auction, are auctions where the price decreases with each bid placed allowing the bidder to purchase the item if they wish to receive a % discount off of retail prices.

In reveal auctions deeper savings are attributed to collective buying power: the more users that pay to enter the sale, the more the price decreases.

Not only are reveal price auctions popular, penny auctions are too!

In September, online superstore TripleClicks.com, added  Pricebenders Auctions, penny auctions featuring brand new, brand name merchandise and gift cards. TripleClicks rewards customers by giving them 1 free song for every bid placed.

We recently spoke to a programmer who works for a big box retailer, which also happens sells items in online auctions, he seemed to be interested in the penny auction concept!

Entertainment shopping is still evolving, but so far it’s been exciting to watch its progression and we hope it’s here to stay!

Discuss dutch/reveal auctions and all other forms of pay-per-bid entertainment shopping auctions in our forum!

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