Pursuitist which is basically a blog for luxury goods and services is being upgraded to include reviews and rankings directly received from the visitors on the site. It will have integration with Facebook and Twitter and feature an iOS application for iPhone and iPad and an HTML5 interface for other tablets and smart phones. According to a spokesperson of the site it aims to become a Trip Advisor or Yelp for the luxury category. It hopes to function like a country club on the internet for the elite and the upper class. They have carefully crafted a strategy that would allow them to retain their exclusivity and not become just another community on the net with a mixed crowd. They want to ensure that the ambiance of the country club is maintained on the site.
The site is about all things high end and luxury and is bringing more for those who live the good life. Christopher Parr, CEO of the luxury site believes that they can cut through the clutter on the net for the affluent consumer and be the appropriate alternative for them. It becomes frustrating for the high end customer to search for a great hotel in a new city if he searches on Yelp and Trip Advisor. Pursuitist is preparing to provide the kind of service that class of customer is looking for. And that’s the reason why they are adding a whole host of new features to make the site a different kind of platform. They are not after volumes alone but quality and the very upper crust of the communities on the net. The idea makes a lot of economic sense as it will become the platform for the online luxury community and it can leverage that strength to attract the high end brands. The brands would love to be on the platform that delivers their targeted audience. The site is striving to develop into a platform where luxury advertisers can connect and engage with affluent consumers.
Burberry, Coach, BMW, Gucci, Hermes, Chanel and many, many others have already worked with Pursuitist. The site is very selective about the brands it works with as they don’t want to dilute their exclusive identity. There have been many other attempts to create the Facebook for the wealthy people. aSmallWorld has been on the net since 2004 as a community of internationally minded people. Decavenne is another site for the rich Europeans and Americans. Launched in 2001 it could not survive the decade because of the fast changing social networking scenario. There have been others like Affluence.org and the luxury-focused Squa.re, but they all shared the same strategy to create invite only sites which ultimately became full of pretenders on the net. Pursuitist on the other hand wants to focus on those willing and able to buy and review luxury goods. The idea is to get the people with real purchasing power on board. The new features of Pursuitist will launch on November 1, 2011and it is sure to drive the site ahead of so called sites for the rich.
Via: venturebeat
