Reading Today: The Future of Flash Sales

Great points in The Cut's take on the recent NYTimes article, showing that online comparison shopping, or dare-we-say-it, hitting the sales in person, often yields better pricing than flash sales.  They're not the first to note that as the economy (or at least the luxury retail sector) recovers, brands are a lot less likely to offload the massive stockpiles of merchandise seen in the early months of the recession. 
Obsessive google-shopper that I am, I can totally relate to the maxing-out-my-internet browser-tabs, constantly hitting refresh, nonstop searching hinted at in the NYTimes.

"Ah yes, that newfangled technology. But the story does raise a more interesting question about what will happen to all these sites as more and more consumers realize that, in their current incarnation, they're not the best places to buy clothes these days. Can they diversify and evolve enough to sustain themselves?" 

The Cut's Amy Odell brings up a very interesting question.  It's definitely been the year of million dollar billion dollar valuations for sample sale sites- and now we're seeing consolidations & acquisitions.  Judging by the wealth of novelty in the market- wine sample sales!  children's sample sales!  exclusive designer collections!  curated clothes, housewares!  TV & movie tie-ins!  - the powers that be in the industry saw this downtrend coming.