Sweetspot founder to launch online retail site

The woman who started Sweetspot.ca is about to launch a new venture, an online retailer and shopping destination called Dealuxe. According to a story in Marketing magazine, Joanne Track has hired the Toronto media agency Blammo to create a campaign that will start April 4, preceeding Dealuxe's official lauch May 2.

A self-described “start-up junkie” who launched Sweetspot.ca in 2004 (the site was subsequently acquired by Rogers Publishing), Track said she was drawn to online retail because of the dearth of Canadian players in the space.

“I love the idea of starting with a completely blank slate and figuring out what I’m going to turn it into,” she said. “There’s been a huge gap in the market for a purely Canadian online retailer, so my intention is to fill that gap and take a leading role.”

She described Dealuxe as a blend of the “flash sale” sites Gilt Group and Net-A-Porter.com, taking best practices from both.

The focus of the membership-based shopping site will be on women's fashion, though there is an intention to move into men's and kids' lines. It will have editorial features. Sign up for the site is free, but people who do so now get a $10 credit to their account. 

Rogers Publishing's LouLou magazine last fall struck a deal with an American online private sale shopping site Beyond the Rack. Today's Parent magazine recently launched a free mobile application called Gift Finder to allow readers to shop online for childrens' gifts. Transcontinental has a searchable online flyer site called Dealstreet.ca which allows readers to research products, locate sources and print coupons and read content from such magazines as Style at Home, Canadian Living and Homemakers.