The founders of CatchOfTheDay, Gabby and Hezi Leibovich, will retain a controlling stake in the group businesses, with Lee Fixel from Tiger Global and Jason Lenga from Seek joining the board.

The funds will fuel the e-commerce group’s continued leadership in the high growth daily deals sector, and support the group’s expansion into new locations with a focus on more localized deals, the introduction of specialized offerings and continued investment in technology – including mobile applications – to meet the future needs of consumers.

Lee Fixel, managing director of Tiger Global said, “What was immediately apparent when we started discussions with the Leibovich brothers was their deep understanding of the space and what was required to build a globally competitive e-commerce group – particularly the importance of building strong supplier and procurement networks and investment in technology to remain innovative and agile.”

James Packer shares this view, adding: “Unlike many other players in the market, the team’s proven experience in building profitable e-commerce businesses, means they have the skills, supplier networks and economies of scale to keep growing and leading the market.  We are excited to align ourselves with the market leader in the online daily deals sector in Australia.”

CatchOfTheDay and Scoopon operate in the high growth daily deals sector, part of the broader global online retail market. Daily deals sites are based on offering one highly discounted deal (product and services) a day to customers. Gabby and Hezi Leibovich are pioneers in the Australian daily deal sector, launching CatchOfTheDay.com.au five years ago in 2006 and successfully expanding their business with the launch of group buying site Scoopon.com.au in 2010.

Gabby Leibovich says despite the growth in the daily deals sector, Australia’s online retailing industry is still in its infancy when compared to other markets, which is one reason why they considered investment from international partners.

“It is still early days in Australia when it comes to online retail and to support our next phase of growth we were open to overseas investors who could share a different perspective into the online retail market, as well as bring new skills, advice and contacts to further our growth and expansion.

“The investment consortium of Tiger Global, CPH, Andrew Bassat and Glenn Poswell possess a true passion for the internet. Through our relationships with them we are able to access a wealth of advice, experience, and extensive contacts – both local and international – to propel our business forward. We look forward to working with them,” said Leibovich.

KPMG Corporate Finance and Arnold Bloch Leibler acted as advisers to the owners of CatchOfTheDay and Scoopon.

“Maybe we’ve got Gerry to thank again,” co-founder Paul Greenberg told SmartCompany.

Read the full article on SmartCompany.

The merger consideration represents a 51 percent premium over GSI’s March 25, 2011, closing price and a 47 percent premium over the average closing price of GSI Commerce common stock over the 30 trading days prior to March 28, 2011. The acquisition is subject to regulatory and GSI shareholder approval, as well as other customary closing conditions.

“We intend to lead the next generation of commerce innovation. The acquisition of GSI, which offers the most comprehensive integrated suite of online commerce and interactive marketing services available, will significantly strengthen our ability to connect buyers and sellers worldwide,” said John Donahoe, eBay Inc. President and CEO. “Combined with eBay Marketplaces and PayPal, we believe GSI will enhance our position as the leading strategic global commerce partner of choice for retailers and brands of all sizes.”

With more than 180 customers across 14 merchandise categories, GSI has long-term commerce services relationships with leading retailers and brands. We expect that GSI will benefit from eBay’s global platform and technology capabilities, and its clients will be able to leverage eBay Marketplaces and PayPal services.

“Technology is changing how consumers shop, and retailers and brands are changing how they compete,” Donahoe said. “With its complementary strengths, GSI will extend the power of our portfolio. With eBay, PayPal, GSI and our global platform capabilities, we are focused on delivering new ways for retailers and brands of all sizes – from sole proprietors to large merchants – to drive innovation, engage customers and help people shop anytime, anywhere and on any device.”

As part of the transaction, eBay will divest 100 percent of GSI’s licensed sports merchandise business and 70 percent of ShopRunner and Rue La La. eBay believes these businesses are not core to its long-term growth strategy. These assets will be sold to a newly formed holding company, which will be led by GSI founder and CEO Michael Rubin.

eBay expects the transaction to result in synergies of approximately $60 million by 2013; the company expects the transaction to be EPS neutral in 2011 and accretive in 2012. As part of the divestiture, eBay will loan the holding company $467 million and retain a 30 percent stake in Rue La La and ShopRunner. In addition, Michael Rubin will invest additional cash of $31 million in the holding company.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, GSI Commerce may solicit acquisition proposals from third parties for a 40-day “go-shop” period continuing through May 6, 2011. It is not anticipated that any developments will be disclosed with regard to this process unless GSI Commerce’s Board of Directors makes a decision with respect to a potential superior proposal. The merger agreement provides eBay with a customary right to match a superior proposal. There is no guarantee that this process will result in a superior proposal.

Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Peter J. Solomon Company are acting as financial advisers to eBay, while Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP is acting as its legal adviser with regard to the transaction. Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated is acting as financial adviser to GSI Commerce and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP is acting as legal adviser to the special committee of the GSI Commerce Board of Directors. Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP is acting as legal adviser to GSI Commerce.

About eBay Inc.
Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) connects millions of buyers and sellers globally on a daily basis through eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace, and PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive online payments. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world’s largest ticket marketplace, and eBay classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.

About GSI Commerce
GSI Commerce® enables ecommerce, multichannel retailing and digital marketing for global enterprises in the U.S. and internationally. GSI’s ecommerce services, which include technology, order management, payment processing, fulfillment and customer care, are available on a modular basis or as part of an integrated solution. GSI’s Global Marketing Services division provides innovative digital marketing products and services comprised of database management and segmentation, marketing distribution channels, a global digital agency to drive strategic and creative direction and an advanced advertising analytics and attribution management platform. Additionally, GSI provides brands and retailers platforms to engage directly with consumers through RueLaLa.com, an online private sale shopping destination, and ShopRunner.com, a members-only shopping service that offers unlimited free two-day shipping and free shipping on returns for a $79 annual subscription.

The new solution offers PayPal’s competitive fee structure for micropayments, with pricing at 5 percent plus 5 cents for purchases under $12 — lower than the fees typically charged by payment processors in the digital goods Industry.

Every time a customer purchases content, publishers and merchants get paid quickly, giving them fast access to their funds. PayPal for digital goods will be available late fall this year.

At PayPal’s second annual Innovate developer conference, Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg announced that Facebook will integrate PayPal’s new digital goods payment flow to make PayPal the way to make purchases on Facebook.

Several additional companies, including Autosport.com, FT.com, GigaOM, Justin.tv, Ooyala, Plimus, Tagged, Tyler Projects and Ustream announced that they are also using PayPal to monetize the growing opportunity in digital goods.

“Our readers want their news on demand, whether they’re on a laptop, a mobile phone or a tablet,” said Mary Beth Christie, head of product management at FT.com. “PayPal helps us provide the experience our customers expect, along with flexibility to experiment with payment mechanisms for subscriptions. This gives our customers the flexibility to pay for what they want, when they want.”

“The decision to purchase digital goods and content usually happens on impulse, so the act of paying needs to be as quick as that impulse,” said Sam Shrauger, PayPal’s vice president of global product strategy.

“PayPal for digital goods is an ideal solution for game developers, newspapers, bloggers, media companies, and anyone who is looking to monetize premium digital content around the globe.”

Because PayPal for digital goods is built on PayPal’s sophisticated fraud prevention engine, developers don’t have to worry about building the systems required to protect customers’ sensitive financial information. PayPal is already one of the leading payment methods for digital goods, giving merchants global reach with 90 million accounts in 190 markets around the world. The company closed out 2009 with $2 billion of total payment volume for digital goods and reached $1.3 billion in the first half of 2010.

“This new venture will provide ticket buyers, venues and event promoters with a more powerful option than they are getting now and will open up new marketing opportunities for major events across News Limited’s network of newspapers and websites,” Hartigan said.

Foxtix will work closely with News Limited’s media platforms to provide promoters and venue managers a wide marketing reach; and provide News Limited readers with special offers and benefits.

For venues, promoters and artists, Foxtix will be pursuing new marketing opportunities with increased and exclusive coverage of events. There will also be marketing arrangements with MySpace to capitalise on the widespread sharing of entertainment among audiences on social networking sites.

Among benefits that subscribers to News Limited’s newspapers, websites and apps can expect from Foxtix are exclusive opportunities to purchase tickets before they go on general sale, exclusive access to events, and discounts.

“Foxtix aims to achieve three things; break up the cosy duopoly in ticketing in Australia, give consumers access to lower booking fees, and utilise News Limited’s media assets to give ticket buyers, venues, promoters and artists a stronger alternative to what currently exists in ticketing,” Hartigan said.

Foxtix will be led by Adam McArthur, currently the general manager of Moshtix, Australia’s leading general admission and live music ticketing provider. Moshtix and Foxtix will operate side by side under Mr McArthur’s leadership.

Mr McArthur said: “Foxtix will do things differently. Compared to Ticketek and Ticketmaster, Foxtix will give venues and promoters more control of the ticketing of their event and more buyer data – at a lower cost.

“Foxtix will also be giving consumers lower booking and transaction fees on their tickets.”

“Venues, event managers and promoters have been telling us for a long time that there is a clear need for a third player to enter the market to offer a friendlier, alternative service. With Foxtix, we are confident we are answering this call.

“Over the last seven years, through our involvement with Moshtix, we have witnessed many situations where the industry and consumers are being poorly served. When you compare the Australian ticket market to other global markets, we are a long way behind when it comes to technology and service.”

Foxtix will further differentiate itself from other Australian ticketing companies such as Ticketek and Ticketmaster by:

• implementing innovative technology to minimise scalping
• providing consumers with alternative ticket delivery methods
• allowing consumers to purchase tickets on mobile devices and re-sell tickets
• allowing consumers to choose their own seat at venues

“The team at Moshtix who have built it into Australia’s leading general admission and festival ticketing provider will be applying their skills and knowledge to service Foxtix as we leverage News Limited to become a strong force in Australian ticketing.”

Foxtix’s place in the News Limited stable of brands will be further emphasised in sponsorship, media and marketing packages. Already, integrated media and ticketing deals have been established for The Sunday Times’ Perth Fashion Festival, The Courier Mail’s Home Show and The Daily Telegraph’s Breakfast on the Bridge and Luna Park 75th Birthday.

There is a number of existing Moshtix customers who will transition to become initial Foxtix customers. These include Swimming Australia, The Lifestyle Channel – I Love Dinner series, MasterChef Masterclass and A-list Entertainment.

Mr. McArthur continued: “We are also working on some other significant deals that we will announce in the near future.”

The company’s new website can be found at foxtix.com.au

Foxtix will sit in News Digital Media’s Emerging Businesses division under executive director of emerging businesses, Michael Solomon to whom Adam McArthur will report. Other brands within this division include moshtix, Getprice and Learning Seat.

Now CHOICE’S members and visitors will be able to purchase those products online armed with the best prices from the most suitable retailers.

The consumer group has announced it is teaming up with leading comparison shopping site Getprice in a partnership that will provide price information about a range of products with an option to purchase.

“This partnership with Getprice will provide members and visitors a channel to instantly find the best value for products that CHOICE has tested and recommended from Getprice’s database of over two million products from 1000 retailers,” says CHOICE’s commercial director George Perry.

“By going to the CHOICE website, Australians will be able to read the test reviews and select a product. By clicking on ‘Price and Buy’, a price comparison page will display the product and prices supplied by retailers – both online and in physical stores – as well as information detailing their warranty, service and delivery terms.”

The CHOICE site will also give information about shopping tips on what to look out for before making an online purchase.

“This is an added benefit for CHOICE members and visitors – a one-stop-shop where you can read the latest product reviews, find the best price for those products and then make a purchase if you wish,” says Perry.

CEO of Getprice Chris Hitchen says CHOICE readers can make their online purchasing decisions knowing they have the best available information.

“By partnering with CHOICE, a powerful platform is created where consumers can access credible, independent product reviews from CHOICE alongside the most comprehensive and up-to-date pricing information powered by Getprice.

“CHOICE is Australia’s leading consumer advocacy group and we are looking forward to developing this valuable relationship to the benefit of consumers and retailers alike.”

The shopping comparison service begins this week with CHOICE’s latest review of refrigerators.

Through its partnership with Getprice, Yahoo!7 furthers its goal of partnering with industry leaders and innovators.

The new destination will be available on the Yahoo!7 Network and will provide independent price comparisons for over 2.4 million products from 1000 merchants in 500 individual categories.

The site will also fully integrate with Yahoo!7 Answers. Each time a visitor searches for a product on the Yahoo!7 Shopping site, the same search will be conducted on Answers to find questions and answers about the product. The integration of Yahoo!7 Answers will provide Yahoo!7 shoppers with more pre-purchase information about what they are looking for, and help them make the decision about what to buy at what price and from what store, even easier. This will create a strong social comparison shopping experience.

Yahoo!7 National Media Sales Director Damon Scarr said, “We’re very pleased to be able to announce our partnership with Getprice today. This new agreement will further enhance the wealth of ‘at your fingertips’ information accessible through the Yahoo!7 site. Getprice’s merchants are trusted, reliable retailers and we believe its impartial, independent price and product comparisons will help our audience be fully informed when making online purchasing decisions.”

Chief executive officer of Getprice, Chris Hitchen added, “At Getprice we pride ourselves on forming high quality partnerships within the online retail industry and this is an extension of that. Our partnership with Yahoo!7 extends our marketing reach for our retailers into Yahoo!7’s qualified, engaged audience and provides this audience access to the millions of products available on our site.”

Getprice includes some of Australia’s biggest retail brands such as Big W, Dick Smith Electronics, Rebel Sport, Officeworks, Supercheap Auto, Bing Lee, Apple, Dell, Charlie Brown, Clinique, Hewlett Packard, Billabong and Sony.

The new Getprice site on Yahoo!7 is available now at the following link: http://whitelabels.getprice.com.au/yahoo

1300 FLOWERS’ chairman Jack Singleton says he is “delighted by the transaction that brings Fast Flowers under the 1300 FLOWERS umbrella. Fast Flowers has strong brand recognition and has grown to become an industry leader over the last decade. This is testament to the abilities of CEO Jonathan Barouch and his management team”.

1300 FLOWERS will take operational control of the Fast Flowers Group in October and will continue to maintain both brands.

According to Jack Singleton “there are significant synergies between the two operations and we have picked up some wonderful assets which will only serve to improve our supply chain – which means fresher flowers – and more of them – for our customers”.

Jonathan Barouch is pleased with the acquisition, having founded the company as a high school student in 1999. “Growing Fast Flowers from an idea into one of Australia’s high profile floral brands has been a wonderful experience. I have known and respected Jack’s business abilities for almost 10 years so I couldn’t have asked for a better person to lead the business through its next stage of growth”.

Jonathan is looking forward to pursuing other business opportunities after the successful integration.

1300 FLOWERS was founded in 2005 by Sydney entrepreneur Jack Singleton. With a network of hand-selected florists all around Australia, 1300 FLOWERS prides itself on delivering the freshest and longest lasting flowers – in the most beautiful arrangements and bouquets. The 1300 FLOWERS customer service team understands that every flower delivery is an expression of an emotion. As such, every order and customer request is handled by the 1300 FLOWERS team with passion and respect. This understanding of what sending a gift of flowers is all about has seen 1300 FLOWERS fast become one of Australia’s leading flower delivery brands.

Fastflowers.com.au was the brainchild of teenager Jonathan Barouch who, while still at high school, could see the potential of the internet when it came to purchasing flowers. He saw that many of his friends were too shy to order flowers for their girlfriends in the traditional way, so he set up his first internet company at the ripe young age of 17. Fast Flowers has undergone significant growth since its launch in July 1999 and now holds one of the top spots for online flower sales in Australia and New Zealand. With the addition of international destinations, Fast Flowers now offers a complete floral delivery service to almost anywhere in the world.

Fast Flowers owns and operates retail stores in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane and has alliances with florists around Australia and New Zealand to offer same-day flower delivery nationally and internationally.

“For us it’s very profitable for the simple reason that you get no cost of fulfilment, you only get the cost of freight. So this can be an enormous opportunity for us going forward, but we’ll move along with the customers.”

Click here to read the full interview transcript.

SYDNEY, 20 July 2010 – Australia’s consumer eCommerce market is underdeveloped, lagging both the US and UK markets by approximately three years according to the latest eCommerce analysis issued by consulting company, Frost & Sullivan. Online retail consumer spending in Australia in 2010 is expected to account for approximately five per cent of total retail sales, however if spending on overseas sites is excluded, this drops to around three per cent. In contrast, online as a percentage of total retail spend (domestic only) is over five per cent in both the US and UK.

The report, Australian eCommerce Market 2010, analyses consumer online purchasing of tangible products. It includes the results of a survey of more than 1,000 active online consumers to provide purchasing information relating to five product categories: electronics, computers, books and CDs/DVDs, jewellery and fashion accessories, and clothing and footwear.

Total consumer eCommerce expenditure in the 2010 calendar year, excluding online services such online ticketing and events, travel, music downloads and financial services, is forecast to reach A$12 billion. This equates to per capita expenditure of approximately A$536 per year, which is slightly behind the US and UK markets. Expenditure is predicted to show moderate growth over the next four years, rising to A$17.7 billion by 2014 with a compound annual growth rate of 10.2 per cent. While the number of local e-tailers entering the Australian market has increased significantly in the last five years, there has been no corresponding increase in the volume of local transactions. The report notes that a significant proportion of new entrants fail to succeed over the long term.

A key reason for the lag in local activity is the lack of online presence by many of the large retail chains and department stores. Despite moves by stores including Big W, JB HiFi and Dick Smith, the small number of eCommerce participants and a lack of sufficient internal support from senior management continue to inhibit progress in this area. Frost & Sullivan suggests that the Australian market needs to see the online launch of several retail chains within the next 12 to 24 months to provide the catalyst for further expansion.

Other inhibitors to the development of a local eCommerce market include the strong physical store presence in capital cities and metropolitan areas, and Australian consumers’ limited acceptance of the typical online precursors – mail order and catalogue sales. Security concerns may also be affecting uptake. One in 40 of the survey respondents (2.5 per cent) indicated that their credit or debit card had been stolen in the last 12 months, suggesting that security remains a fundamental issue that needs to be addressed by the eCommerce industry.

The international retailer tactic of targeting Australian consumers by offering localized web services such as product prices and shipping in Australian dollars is paying off. It is estimated that 40 per cent of Australian online shopping expenditure is now conducted on overseas sites. eBay is the dominant online retail player, having successfully evolved from an auction site into a platform for fixed price overseas sellers. Companies such as Amazon.com which are building marketplaces and tools to power other retailers also pose a threat to some Australian vendors.

Consumer behaviour

Survey responses confirm that price is the key driver for shopping online (nominated by 39 per cent of respondents), followed by the convenience of shopping from home (29 per cent). The majority of consumers (58 per cent) showed no preference as to when they shopped, stating that they split their time evenly between weekends and weekdays.

Just over one-fifth of respondents (21 per cent) plan to spend more on online goods over the next 12 months compared to 16 per cent who indicate they intend to spend less. These results are in line with Frost & Sullivan’s forecast for moderate growth over the next four years. The strongest growth is expected in the categories of clothing and footwear, jewellery and fashion accessories, books and CDs/DVDs.

Credit and debit cards are the most popular form of payment method, used for online purchasing by 50 per cent of respondents within the last 12 months. PayPal is the second most preferred method, used by 42 per cent of shoppers.

Most shoppers (64 per cent) will visit a search engine before making a purchasing decision and more than half (57 per cent) seek out product comparison sites, indicating that consumers are increasingly reaching out to specific sites for product research rather than just conducting a general Internet search.

Phil Harpur, Senior Research Manager, Frost & Sullivan, comments, “The number of Australian shoppers using international retail sites confirms that there is a large untapped potential for Australian retailers to develop a local online customer base. However, we are unlikely to see major growth in this sector until more of the big name retailers get online.”