Dive Brief:

• Off-price, luxury e-commerce company Rue Gilt Groupe on Friday filed a Form S-1 registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission indicating plans for an initial public offering of its stock. The IPO targets $100 million to be raised on the Nasdaq with the expected ticker symbol of "RGG." 
• The retailer reported a net loss of $12.6 million on net revenue of $516.5 million in the nine months ending on Oct. 2, compared to a $20.1 million loss on $385.9 million during the same period the previous year. 
• The company has experienced operating losses each year since its inception and said it may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future, according to the filing. The company reported a net loss of $15.9 million in 2019 and $16.3 million in 2020

Dive Insight:

Rue Gilt Groupe is the latest company to file to go public in a year that has seen a wide variety of retailers do the same. 

RueLaLa launched in 2008 and acquired rival flash sale site Gilt Groupe from Hudson's Bay Co. a decade later in 2018. It then formed a new entity, Rue Gilt Groupe. 

The company said its business model "has evolved from its early inception" and now delivers daily sales events with a curated selection of brands at discounted prices. It also leverages a sense of product discovery and fear of missing out by limiting the quantities of merchandise and offering deals for a limited amount of time. Rue Gilt Groupe offers luxury and high-end products at a discount from over 5,000 brands in a number of categories including women's and men's apparel, handbags and accessories, beauty, footwear, home decor and others. 

Simon Property Group invested in the company in 2019 and is one of the company's largest stockholders. CEO David Simon serves on the company's board of directors.

Simon Property Group and Rue Gilt Groupe also partnered in 2019 to launch a "multi-platform" operation dedicated to online discount shopping. The venture included the company's Rue La La and Gilt platforms and online outlet marketplace Shop Premium Outlets. 

Rue Gilt Groupe currently has 1 million active buyers, which represents less than 1% of active buyer penetration in the U.S. apparel e-commerce market. It also has limited consumer overlap between its two main brands, RueLaLa and Gilt, with less than 7% of total active buyers on both destinations as of October of this year.

In its SEC filing, Rue Gilt Groupe pointed to a number of risk factors, including its potential inability to reach profitability in the future, that its growth rate may not be sustainable or indicative of future growth, and a high dependence on its relationships with third-party partners. 

Prior to Rue Gilt Groupe's filing, Retail Dive tracked 17 major retailers that have filed for initial public offerings or direct listings this year. It's a trend that is showing up particularly with DTC companies, as e-commerce growth remains a focus for investors.