A new online shopping club called Jet.com just went live, gunning for Amazon and promising lower prices and gradually bigger savings.
News about Jet's launch created quite a stir, mostly due to the person behind the venture. Jet's CEO is Marc Lore, who previously had the successful Diapers.com before selling it to Amazon back in 2010. Lore then started the Jet venture in 2013 and managed to raise $220 million in roughly one year. The new business is expected to go head to head with Amazon and Cotsco, heating up competition even further.
Jet.com went live on Tuesday, July 21, promising to offer aggressively low prices. Moreover, adding multiple items within a single order will bring members increasingly bigger savings in time.
The service kicked off with a free three-month trial, after which it will charge $49.99 for annual memberships. This means that a one-year Jet membership will come at half the price of an annual Amazon Prime membership, which includes free two-day shipping and some other neat perks such as video and music streaming.
Jet says that it wants to create a business model that mirrors a sense of community and it will not draw its profits from the products in sells. Instead, the company will profit only from its membership fees.
"As a Jet member, you get real, meaningful savings when you shop-without a Herculean effort. And if you ever need anything, the Jet Heads are here to help 24/7," the company further touts.
"Work transparently," "Play Fairly" and "Trust Explicitly" are Jet's mottos and the company is shaping up as a powerful Amazon competitor.
Jet's business model sounds quite promising and the company could appeal mainly to consumers who are not members of Amazon Prime, but would like an online shopping experience with lower prices and other perks.
It remains to be seen how Amazon and Jet.com will stack up against each other, but one thing's for sure: competition is now heating up even further in the online shopping market and consumers should reap the benefits. Head over to Jet's website to learn more or start shopping.
