Internet Innovator Nasty Gal

1. JerrickFrye
Innovation beyond a Name: Nasty Gal
In today’s society there is always the need for something new and refreshing. No matter
if it is something from the past being remodeled, “retro”, or the next big thing of the future. The
one thing that keeps today’s society fresh and exciting is innovation. Innovation is defined by
Merriam-Webster as, “the introduction of something new; 2: a new idea, method, or device:
novelty.” (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/innovation). Advancements with the
internet have helped many people create and redefine modern day technology and equipment in
general. One company has created advancements through the internet and has changed the
landscape of modern online retail. That one company is Nasty Gal.
When you speak of innovation and online retail, Nasty Gal is at the top of the list. What
started out with humble beginnings on eBay, shift and turned into a multi-million-dollar fashion
empire. Nasty Gal is responsible for bring “authentic” commercial retail discount clothing to its
“trendy customer base” and “has propelled from $28 million in 2011 to more than $120 million
last year”. (FastCompany.com/Nasty Gal.) The company’s founder, 28-year-old Sophia
Amoruso, dubbed a fashion virtuoso (FC.com) used the platform of eBay to launch her
beginnings into the fashion industry by selling through them. She profiled her targeted buyers
and began to appeal to each of their needs at a premium price.

2. Nasty Gal has expanded upon the vast world of the global internet and created a blog,
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, YouTube, as well as being the hot topic of
internet chats and magazines. Nasty Gal’s Facebook lists numerous products as well as using its
internet platform as a source of requests and service for its customers.
(https://www.facebook.com/NASTYGAL) Nasty Gal’s uses its Twitter to let customers give
feedback on its products while ordering and receiving questions and answers from the company
itself. (http://twitter.com/nastygal) Nasty Gal’s Tumblr site allows it to react with more tech
savvy fashion seekers with animated gifs and views of the company’s online inventory.
(http://thenastygal.tumblr.com/) The company’s YouTube is in charge of giving its potential
customers a view and better feel of the products they’re searching for.
(http://www.youtube.com/NASTYGALtv) Nast Gal uses an Instagram page, which is primarily
for photographs; to give their audiences in depths look at material and products available.
(http://web.stagram.com/n/nastygal) Nasty Gal’s blog features lessons and step by step
instructions on how to “accessorize” with your products (http://blog.nastygal.com) The
company’s Pinterest is described as a “The global online style destination for taste-makers and
risk-takers.” (http://pinterest.com/nastygal/). Not to mention its impact on magazine and
television implications.
Nasty really is the idea of an internet innovator. Sophia Amoruso, Nasty Gal
founder/CEO, went from working at an art school to selling items on Myspace and eBay to
creating her own company all through the internet! As quoted by Victoria Barret, of Forbes Staff,
“The Company is on its way to quadrupling sales this year to $128 million, racking up gross
margins of more than 60% …. Nasty Gal has done this with very little advertising and nearly no

3. -discounting in an industry forced to succumb to daily deal making.”
(http://www.forbes.com/sites/victoriabarret/2012/06/28/nasty-gals-sophia-amoruso-fashionsnew-
phenom/) Without advertising and very little discounting it is amazing that someone could boost
their sales through one thing, The Internet. The internet, as we all know, can propel word of
mouth better than actually speaking. With the way Nasty Gal is set up it is easy for women
through the age group of 24 – 33 to easily maneuver through it and find something they like as
well as meet their unique needs.
From 2006 to present Nasty Gal has expanded its empire and continued to adapt and
develop to today’s fashion savvy internet users. They use a focus group employ mostly from
within to keep the company refreshing. Nasty Gal uses a formula to both appeal to its customers
and keep the company from losing money. “Nasty Gal buys only limited runs so as not to get
stuck with stuff that won’t move. It sells 93% of its inventory at full price in an industry that
usually marks down a third of all styles.” (Victoria Barret, Forbes). They do not employ the
usual tactics of ‘discounting’ and ‘friend referrals’.
In theory, Nasty Gal does not do anything unusual or revolutionary in its quest to
dominate the fashion scene, but they do however have their strategy and continue to employ that
strategy towards success. Nasty Gal is The American Dream in a way. Starting from nothing
only to build your own empire from the very nothing you started upon. Nasty Gal’s secret to
success has been, and will continue to be, its innovative use of the internet, its buy cheap sells
over price marketing strategy, and its key vision to keep the quantity of merchandise selective
and low as to not lose profit. It’s traditional, it’s usual; it is the same as many companies across
the globe, but Nasty Gal, as a company, clearly have an understanding of the old saying of, “it’s
not what you do, but how you do it.”

4. Works Cited
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/innovation
http://pinterest.com/nastygal/
http://blog.nastygal.com/
http://web.stagram.com/n/nastygal
http://www.youtube.com/NASTYGALtv
http://thenastygal.tumblr.com/
http://twitter.com/nastygal
https://www.facebook.com/NASTYGAL
www.nastygal.com
http://www.forbes.com/sites/victoriabarret/2012/06/28/nasty-gals-sophia-amoruso-fashions-new-
phenom