When the buyers working for the discount fashion website Ideeli return from trips to designer showrooms in the "garment district" here, they're often as euphoric as shoppers who have found great deals.

Enter the growing influence of Ideeli and other sites that specialize in "flash sales." While Groupon and other daily-deal sites typically feature one daily deal in a local market, flash-sale sites have limited-time sales that feature many pieces from one or more designers' lines.


Ideeli takes the concept even further and often features sales from as many as 40 designers at a time, selling women's, men's and children's clothing, as well as home goods.


The site has almost 5 million members and was ranked fourth among flash-sale sites in unique visits last month, according to Web-tracking company ComScore. Ideeli, which launched in 2007 with five employees, now has 250 and is still hiring.

Ideeli sells high fashion for less online