Uscoop debuts first college retail deals website inspired by campus style and dorm living

Washington, D.C. | Published on: March 1, 2011

@theuscoop debuts first college retail deals website inspired by campus style and dorm living http://pressdoc.com/p/000btl

Launched by two UPenn ‘09 graduates and a Brown alum, Uscoop is a private college lifestyle and flash deal website. By photographing stylish students on campus and in their dorm rooms, the team identifies online brands that support organic trends, featuring a 3-day offer of a 30%-50% off voucher. Uscoop also assists brands in reaching this young, attractive audience by contextualizing their product or service from the mindset of a student and marketing their goods in natural campus environments.

A Georgetown startup is taking a savvy and grass roots approach to the daily retail deals phenomenon. Uscoop, a private college lifestyle and flash deal website, premiers today for college students to buy vouchers at a discount for select online brands. Discounts on the profiled businesses are inspired by undergrad and grad dorm room and style photos featured in the editorial sections of the website. Previously unveiled and successfully tested with the Georgetown University community, Uscoop enjoys close proximity to the local college campuses and the support of the growing start-up community in Washington, D.C.

Uscoop’s two month beta period shows tremendous growth potential, with representation on over 150 different campuses. Word-of mouth, referral, and campus rep marketing as well as unique “Campus Style Watch” and “Campus Cribs” features attract new users to check the site daily. Additional components such as the Uscoop Playlist, Blog, and Top Five Lists add noteworthy value to the site as evidenced by the significant time students spend browsing relative to other online deal sites.

To date, Uscoop has offered exclusive vouchers on over twenty of the coolest up and coming brands as well as well-known retailers such as City Sports. Products range from clothing and accessories, to bedding, electronics, and services all relevant to the college lifestyle.

The voucher model serves two main purposes. It is an ideal way for brands to gain much desired recognition amongst this young, viral target audience and drive traffic to their own e-commerce sites. Unlike other online discount websites, brands provide discounts on current merchandise for students as opposed to last season’s overstock inventory.  Students that do not always have access to stores, due to small college towns or busy schedules, can be exposed to exclusive student-inspired deals on current product right from their own computers.    

Uscoop campus reps and student paparazzi are integral to the company’s growth model, contributing to many aspects of the start-up. Photography majors regularly submit pictures that capture their campus vibe while journalism students help to maintain the authentic voice behind the feature editorials. Ambitious students fascinated by entrepreneurship and marketing take initiative to source organic campus trends and curate local and national deals.  The company is in constant communication with campus reps to stay current with the undergrad mindset and to get continuous feedback from the target market. In return, Uscoop offers exposure to the online marketing world and first-hand experience with a growing start-up enterprise.