By Aimee Chanthadavong
Online retailing group CatchOfTheDay, which operates e-commerce sites CatchOfTheDay.com.au and Scoopon.com.au, has sealed an $80 million deal with New York-based Tiger Global Management and a group of Australian businessmen including James Packer’s Consolidated Press Holdings (CPH), Andrew Bassat, co-founder and CEO of Seek, and Glenn Poswell, founder of Gannet Capital.
Known to be the largest growth capital investment in Australian e-commerce sector, which values the group at $200 million, will help fuel CatchOfTheDay’s growth in the daily deals sector and support its expansion into new locations with a focus on more localised deals and introducing speciialised offerings.
Speaking to RetailBiz, a CatchOfTheDay spokesperson said the funds will be used to launch two new sites – grocery site GroceryRun.com.au and fashion site BrandStreet.com.au – in about eight weeks.
“The grocery site will take on Coles and Woolworths, helping shoppers save up to 75 per cent off the recommended retail price. It builds upon the success of our monthly GroceryRun shopping event, by offering shoppers the best prices on groceries, every day,” she said.
“BrandStreet is currently a new site that is being created. It will be offering discounts on branded clothing items like sporting goods, sneakers and different apparels.”
According to the spokesperson, the company will also continue its investment in technology, including mobile applications.
“The company has always been keen in investing in technology innovations. They were the first daily deal site to offer an iPhone app with Scoopon. Scoopon was also rated number one in the Apple Store’s lifestyle category so it’s definitely an area we are keen to build upon,” she said.
“At CatchOfTheDay we are always looking for ways we can improve the shopping experience. Technology is a key part of that to ensure we meet the evolving needs of shoppers.”
The founders of CatchOfTheDay, Gabby and Hezi Leibovich, will retain a controlling stake in the group businesses, with Lee Fixel from Tiger Global and Jason Lenga from Seek joining the board.
Gabby Leibovich said a statement that despite the growth in the daily deals sector, Australia’s online retailing industry is still in its infancy when compared to other markets, which is one reason why they considered investment from international partners.
CatchOfTheDay spokesperson explained that the company is already a market leader in the daily deals space and while that is highly contested in the online retail market there’s no direct competitors.
“Being number one there’s not many major players in Australia’s e-commerce market that we can look to and learn from. A lot of the real innovation and advancements is happening overseas. Through our new partners, we are able to access a broad range of skills , experience and new contacts to help build CatchOfTheDay and Scoopon into household brands in Australia.”