MasterCard and Gilt Groupe are working together to drive a new daily deal platform called Priceless Cities.
MasterCard is supplying the infrastructure and the branding (see this example), while Gilt Groupe’s Gilt City division is delivering the so-called “adventures” consumers will purchase on the site. New York, Chicago, Beijing, London and Toronto will be the first five markets highlighted on the Priceless Cities network, and consumers will not be required to carry a MasterCard to access the deals, a release explains.
Prior to the announcement, daily deals were hardly considered Gilt Groupe’s forte. “At one point, it seemed like Gilt Groupe’s daily deals business was all but finished,” writes All Things D’s Tricia Duryee. Rather, Gilt’s core competency has been in selling luxury fashion brands to consumers at discount prices. It’s been successful, too — at least in the eyes of investors, who have committed $221 million in equity backing to Gilt since 2007.
MasterCard has utilized several partnerships this month to enhance its commerce offerings. On July 16, the network launched the MasterCard Business Network for servicing SMBs, through a partnership with Rearden Commerce; on July 2, MasterCard and Deutsche Telekom said they would work jointly to bring mobile payments to Europe.
