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Zulily
Company typeBrand
IndustryInternet, online retailing
FoundedDecember 10, 2009; 15 years ago (2009-12-10)[1]
FoundersDarrell Cavens
Mark Vadon
FateGeneral assignment
Headquarters
Seattle, Washington
,
U.S.
Area served
Key people
ProductsChildren's and women's apparel, toys, infant gear and home decor[4][5]
ServicesFlash sale notifications
Revenue$366 million (2016[2])
−$10.33 million (2012[2])
OwnerRegent, L.P. (2023)
Parent
Websitezulily.com

Zulily is an American e-commerce website with operations headquartered in Midvale, Utah. Its target audience are young mothers interested in brand-name goods for their children.[6]

Months after its website closed, all of Zulily's intellectual property was acquired by competitor Beyond, Inc. in March 2024, in a deal valued at $4.5 million in cash.[7]

Overview

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Until it ceased operations in 2023, it had no inventory. Instead, it operated by shipping vendor-owned merchandise at its fulfillment centers, or drop shipping directly to customers.[8][9][10]

With sales that generally lasted 72 hours,[11] the store offered discounts every day.[12] In 2014, half of Zulily's orders came from mobile devices.[5]

On March 7, 2024 (months after Zulily closed its website and operations), Beyond Inc. announced that it had purchased its intellectual property. The deal (announced on March 7) comes at a key moment ahead of Beyond's Overstock relaunch, setting up Zulily for its own refresh.

History

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Zulily was founded in 2009 by former Blue Nile executives Mark Vadon and Darrell Cavens[6] after Vadon's wife had become pregnant, and he was overwhelmed by the process of acquiring the supplies they had not been aware of needing. Zulily went live on January 27, 2010, with an initial focus on children's apparel. By the fourth quarter of 2010, Zulily was a cash-flow–positive business.[13] The company's early strategies included the use of flash sales announced via early-morning emails; by 2012, it had over 10 million members.[14]

When Zulily went public in November 2013, the company had 2.6 million active customers and $331 million in revenue.[13] Its initial public offering valued the company at $2.6 billion.[15] Rather than using a large network of warehouses to quickly ship stored products, Zulily did not purchase the bulk of its product from suppliers until after they were ordered by customers.[14]

In August 2015, Zulily was purchased by Liberty Interactive's QVC division for $2.4 billion.[16][17] In September 2017, Zulily launched a private label credit card.[18] The company announced a sponsorship of local soccer teams Seattle Sounders FC and Reign FC in January 2019 that included the use of their logo on jerseys.[14]

In May 2023, Qurate Retail announced the sale of Zulily to Regent, L.P.[19] The company's revenue had dropped significantly in 2022 and 2023, which was followed by three rounds of layoffs in the Seattle area.[20] Zulily listed its Belltown headquarters for sale and moved into a smaller space in Seattle's Pioneer Square in October 2023.[21]

In December 2023, Zulily laid off more than 800 employees and announced a going out of business sale on December 9. This move came after only seven months under new ownership and amid a struggling environment and amid competition from companies like Amazon. Instead of going into bankruptcy, the company announced an assignment for the benefit of creditors (ABC); Douglas Wilson will wind down Zulily's business through a special purpose entity called Zulily ABC, LLC. [22][8][9][23]

Wind down

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In early December, Zulily filed a notice of its intent to lay off 292 employees in Seattle following several lawsuits filed against the company and the departure of CEO Terry Boyle.[24][25] Zulily laid off another 547 employees at warehouses in Nevada and Ohio.[26] On December 9, the company announced a "going-out-of-business sale", which reporters interpreted as a sign that the company was preparing to close down entirely.[22][27]

Since December 18, 2023, Zulily's website, app, and customer service phone line have been inoperable. The company laid off additional employees on December 20.[28]

On December 22, 2023, Douglas Wilson Companies announced that it was the assignee of Zulily's assignment for the benefit of creditors (ABC). A special purpose entity, Zulily ABC, LLC, managed the wind down of Zulily's business and liquidated its assets for the benefit of its creditors.[29] The ABC arrangement was an alternative to bankruptcy.[30]

Business model

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In 2015, it decreased the number of flash sales, in response to some customers who were overwhelmed by the amount of merchandise from which to select.[31] Retaining customers was a challenge for it: "the flash-sale website is straining to hold on to customers and realizing it may have inundated shoppers with too many deals".[31] Although revenue was up 29% in the first quarter of 2015 compared to the prior year, that was less of a huge increase than the 52% shown for the last quarter of 2014 compared to one year earlier, leading the company to lower its estimate of anticipated revenues in 2015.[31]

Although the website for the company said they held no inventory, in 2015 they began to hold some merchandise in warehouses to shorten the time for delivery. The lack of inventory caused quality control issues including defective merchandise, damaged merchandise, incorrect or incomplete products being sent to customers. The company issued refunds for shipping paid on the damaged, defective or incorrect merchandise if it was the only item bought, or it replaced the item for free. The company included some established brands in addition to the emerging brands on which it had completely relied.[31]

References

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  1. ^ "zulily.com WHOIS, DNS, & Domain Info - DomainTools". WHOIS. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "Form S-1/A Amendment #4". Securities and Exchange Commission. November 13, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  3. ^ "About Us: Our Team". zulily. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  4. ^ "About Us". zulily. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved August 18, 2015.
  5. ^ a b Cook, John (November 4, 2014). "zulily posts revenue of $285 million, tops 4.5M active customers in Q3 as half of North American sales come from mobile". GeekWire. Retrieved November 20, 2014.
  6. ^ a b Parkhurst, Emily (August 28, 2015). "Behind the QVC deal: zulily leadership built decade-long relationship that led to $2.4B acquisition". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved August 28, 2015.
  7. ^ "Zulily To Reopen After Beyond Acquisition, The Former Overstock.com". RetailBoss. Retrieved March 28, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Baljko, Jennifer (January 31, 2020). "How Zulily Optimizes its Supply Chain on Cost, Not Speed". Inbound Logistics. Thomas Publishing.
  9. ^ a b Frazie, Austin. "Sending Product to Zulily: How to Pack, Ship & Get Paid". Zulily Vendor Portal Help Center. Zulily. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  10. ^ Frazie, Austin. "Drop Ship – FAQ". Zulily Vendor Portal Help Center. Zulily. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
  11. ^ "zulily FAQ: How long do events last?". zulily. Retrieved August 18, 2015. Most events last 72 hours—then they move along to make room for something new! Occasionally events will be extended.
  12. ^ "How zulily works". zulily. Retrieved July 25, 2015.
  13. ^ a b "The Billion-Dollar E-commerce Company You Know Nothing About". Fast Company. February 6, 2015. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  14. ^ a b c Rosenblatt, Lauren (March 3, 2024). "From unicorn to bust: Inside the fall of Seattle online retailer Zulily". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 3, 2024.
  15. ^ González, Ángel (February 21, 2014). "Zulily: Hot site for moms hits a moment of truth". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  16. ^ Gottfried, Miriam (August 17, 2015). "zulily Is Lost Up the Amazon With Latest Deal". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 18, 2015. (subscription required)
  17. ^ Vasan, Paula. "QVC owner to buy Zulily shopping site for $2.4 billion". CNET. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  18. ^ "zulily Launches Private Label Credit Card - Retail TouchPoints". Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  19. ^ "Qurate Retail Announces Sale of Zulily to Regent". May 24, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  20. ^ Fonseca, Camilo (August 4, 2023). "As Zulily shrinks, e-commerce firm puts Belltown HQ up for rent". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  21. ^ Soper, Taylor (October 30, 2023). "Zulily moves into new Seattle office following ownership change and more layoffs". GeekWire. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  22. ^ a b Roberts, Paul (December 9, 2023). "After layoffs, once-hyped Seattle online retailer is shutting down". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  23. ^ Danziger, Pamela N. "Online Retailer Zulily Shuts Down After Only 7 Months Under New Ownership". Forbes. Retrieved December 27, 2023.
  24. ^ Soper, Taylor (December 7, 2023). "Zulily shutting down offices and laying off 292 employees in Seattle". GeekWire. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  25. ^ Morgan, Rick (December 7, 2023). "Zulily closing Seattle operations, state filing shows". Puget Sound Business Journal. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
  26. ^ Roberts, Paul (December 8, 2023). "Seattle online retailer Zulily closing operations, cutting hundreds of jobs". The Seattle Times. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  27. ^ Soper, Taylor (December 9, 2023). "As Zulily promotes 'going out of business sale,' longtime employees reflect on retailer's impact". GeekWire. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  28. ^ Soper, Taylor (December 20, 2023). "Zulily lays off more employees as website and app remain offline". GeekWire. Retrieved December 20, 2023.
  29. ^ Wilson, Douglas (December 22, 2023). "Douglas Wilson Companies to Act as Assignee in the Zulily LLC Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors Transaction". Business Wire (Press release).
  30. ^ Cook, John (December 23, 2023). "Zulily transfers assets to professional liquidator as failed retailer unable to issue refunds". GeekWire. Retrieved December 23, 2023.
  31. ^ a b c d Ng, Serena (May 5, 2015). "zulily Cuts Its Revenue Forecast". The Wall Street Journal. (subscription required)

Media related to Zulily at Wikimedia Commons

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