Lockerz

Lockerz.com was an international social commerce website based in Seattle, Washington.[3] The site claimed 19 million members[2] as of July 2011 in 195 different countries.[4][5]

Lockerz
Type of site
Social Commerce [1]
Available inEnglish
Dissolved2014
HeadquartersUnited States
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)Kathy Savitt
URLLockerz.com
AdvertisingViral Media
RegistrationRequired
Users19 million[2]
Launched2009
Current statusOffline

Lockerz operated primarily on the basis of accumulating and spending Lockerz points, also called PTZ. Members acquired PTZ for logging into the site, watching short videos, referring friends, answering daily questions and polls, or purchasing items from Lockerz, among other activities. PTZ could be used for discounts on clothing, electronics, fashion accessories and other products in the Lockerz SHOP.[6][7][8][9]

The website also featured an original Web series called The Homes, starring Chelsea Kane.

Lockerz was targeted at men and women ages 13–30, sometimes called Generation Y.[9] About 20[10] members served on the Lockerz advisory board, or "LAB," which tests features before they are released to the general public.[4][8]

The Lockerz website shut down during the summer of 2014 and would up until 2016 redirect to Ador's website.

History

Lockerz was founded in 2009 by Kathy Savitt, who was CEO from startup until August 2012. Savitt was Chairman of the Board of Lockerz, a role she planned to retain while working full-time as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Yahoo!.[11]

Content was initially aimed at "Generation Y"—men and women aged 13–30—primarily relying on word-of-mouth and social media to attract members. Membership of the site grew quickly because of the redeemable prizes, from an estimated 50 users shortly after startup to roughly 16 million less than twelve months later.[12]

2010
  • March 2010, Lockerz launched the beta version of Lockerz Play, the site's entertainment channel, where users are able to watch videos and collect PTZ for watching them in their entirety.
  • July 2010, Lockerz announced the launch of Lockerz SHOP, the site's shopping platform, where members can redeem PTZ for discounts off products.[13] There are typically about 200 brands available in the shop at any given time, and they change every week, as quantities are limited. Brands at the time included Nintendo, Razer, and Sony, as well as Splendid, Rock and Republic, 7 for all Mankind, Ella Moss, and Dakine.
  • October 2010, Lockerz launched CONNECT, or fwb (Friends With Benefits), the company's social networking platform.[12] As part of this Lockerz introduced new site-member privacy controls regarding access to their information.[9]
  • November 2010, Lockerz launched "24/7", where users bid on an item and the highest bidder gets the prize.
  • December 4, 2010; the second term of LAB began.

2011
  • January 2011, Lockerz announced they acquired the Twitter photo sharing application, Plixi [14]
  • July 2011, Lockerz announced they acquired social sharing platform AddToAny.[15]
  • August 1, 2011: Lockerz announced that the "Redemption" system would be discontinued. A new pilot coupons program was launched at the same time which enabled members to use their points (PTZ) for discounts in restaurants, stores, and entertainment.[6] Complaints had been made regarding Lockerz' use of "waves" in redemptions, the way it decides who can claim the rewards for which they redeem their points. Some users had alleged that items available for redemptions were gone or “fresh out” within a matter of minutes, which implied that Lockerz had only a very limited supply of any redeemable items in redemptions at the best of times, despite having "over 18+ million users in 195 different countries."[16]
  • August 4, 2011, Lockerz opened its site exploration to non-members. As part of this effort, the company re-designed their homepage and launched a new "Dealz" section which allowed members to purchase special offers on restaurants, sporting events and fashion brands, among others.[17][18] Redemptions were ended and Lockerz temporarily removed 24/7 auctions for upgrades to be re-launched at a later date.[6]
  • August 2011, Lockerz receives funding from Live Nation.[19]
  • July 3, 2011, third term of LAB began.
  • December 2011, Lockerz acquires travel auction site Off & Away as part of a talent acquisition to build out their “platform for rewarded social expression.”[20]

2012
  • May 25, 2012, Lockerz acquired Chick Approved, an online fashion community, enabling users to share and receive instant feedback on personal style.[21]

Lockerz Advisory Board

The Lockerz Advisory Board, LAB for short, was created by Lockerz a few months after the launch of the test splash site. The LAB's first term consisted of an exclusive group of members from all around the world. They are, "a select group of Lockerz members from around the world chosen for their creativity, smarts, and dedication to the Lockerz community. This in–the–know team provides support to our membership and tests new site features before they are officially released."[22] On December 4, 2010; the second term of LAB began. LAB 2.0 consisted of approximately 50 members which were broken up into 4 teams: Builders, Connectors, Influencers, and Curators.[23] The third term of LAB began on July 3, 2011 with a group of 20 members.[10]

Funding

Lockerz was funded by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), the Silicon Valley venture capital firm and online media conglomerate Liberty Media.[5][24] In August 2011, Lockerz also received funding from Live Nation.[19] In October 2012, Lockerz had raised a total of $80 million USD in venture funding.[25][26]

Controversy

It has been widely thought that Lockerz is an example of a Matrix scheme.[16]

Complaints have been made regarding Lockerz' use of "waves", the way it decides who can claim the rewards for which they redeem their points. Many users have alleged that all items on Lockerz can "sell out" within a matter of minutes, which implies that Lockerz has only a very limited supply of any redeemable items at the best of times, despite having "over 18+ million users in 195 different countries."[16] On August 1, 2011; Lockerz announced that the "Redemption" system would be discontinued. A new pilot coupons program was launched at the same time which enabled members to use their points (PTZ) for discounts in restaurants, stores, and entertainment.

See also

References
  1. Rao, Leena. "Lockerz Opens Up Social Commerce And Sharing Network To Non-Members, Signs Deal With EMI". TechCrunch./
  2. Lamm, Greg. "Lockerz debuts "Marcy" videos to entertain online shoppers". TechFlash.
  3. "Lockerz". CrunchBase Profile.
  4. Gibesurl, Al. "Gen Z (and Y) can save money shopping at Lockerz". ReviewJournal.com.
  5. Geoffrey A. Fowler & Jessica E. Vascellaro (2010-07-06). "Media and Retail Firms Meld Business Models Online". The Wall Street Journal.
  6. "New ways to use your PTZ! : Lockerz Help Desk". Support.lockerz.com. 2011-08-01. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  7. "Social shopping site Lockerz unlocks cash from KPCB, Liberty". Techflash.com. 2010-07-06. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  8. "Seattle company meeting needs of Internet- savvy audience". The Seattle Times. 2010-09-12.
  9. "News Headlines". Cnbc.com. 2009-02-26. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
  10. "Meet LAB 3.0! - Lockerz Blog | Lockerz Blog". Blog.lockerz.com. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  11. "Marissa Mayer makes major hire, entrepreneur Kathy Savitt is named CMO". Venturebeat.com. 2012-08-27. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  12. "Lockerz.com Raises Cash From Kleiner Perkins for Social Commerce Site". Xconomy. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
  13. "Shop". Lockerz.com. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  14. "Exclusive: Lockerz Acquires Social Photo Sharing App Plixi (Formerly TweetPhoto)". TechCrunch. 2011-01-27. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  15. "Lockerz Acquires Major Social Sharing Platform AddToAny - SEATTLE, July 12, 2011 /PRNewswire/". Washington: Prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  16. http://lockerz-scam.com/2010/06/20/is-lockerz-a-scam/
  17. "Lockerz Opens Up Social Commerce And Sharing Network To Non-Members, Signs Deal With EMI". TechCrunch. 2011-08-10. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  18. "Lockerz Opens Site Exploration to Non-Members - SEATTLE, Aug. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/". Washington: Prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  19. "Live Nation continues e-commerce push with Lockerz investment". TicketNews. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  20. "Lockerz continues acquisition spree, buys travel site Off & Away". GeekWire. 2011-12-09. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  21. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lockerz-acquires-fashion-sharing-site-chick-approved-154060925.html
  22. "Jobs". Lockerz. Retrieved 2010-10-29.
  23. "Meet The Lab 2.0 - Lockerz Blog | Lockerz Blog". Blog.lockerz.com. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  24. Guest Author (2010-08-23). "The End of Moore's Law: A Love Story". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2012-02-29.
  25. "Marissa Mayer makes major hire, entrepreneur Kathy Savitt is named CMO". Venturebeat.com. 2012-08-27. Retrieved 2012-08-27.
  26. "Social Commerce Network Lockerz Raises Another $7.5 million". Tech Crunch. 2012-10-08. Retrieved 2012-10-08.
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