Our story
The socks that started it
Left Microsoft. Earned $1.98
My first pilot,
on my own test store
I wasn't broke. Most of my money was in a savings account I didn't want to touch, and I was a few days from payday. I just needed £2 more to buy the pair I wanted.
So I left.
Two days later I came back with the money. I found a different pair I liked, at 50% off, and bought those.
The store lost me at full price, then sold to me cheaper later. Nobody won.
If I could have said “I'm £2 short”, any good salesperson would have said yes. Online there was a price, a discount code box and a checkout button.
It took me a while to see what had really happened. The store did change its price. It just did it on its own schedule.
That's how pricing works in most stores. Someone notices sales are behind, there's a meeting, a sale goes live. By then, the shopper it was meant for has gone.
Shoppers have learnt this. Waiting works, so they wait. And stores end up on sale most of the year, for everyone, including the people who'd have paid at a higher price.
Flux lets a shopper negotiate an offer while they're still on the page, and agrees a price with them there and then. It never goes below a hidden floor the store sets. And stores control when Flux appears.
The shopper who's ready today has no reason to come back later because their deal is available today. The store keeps its listed price untouched.
Ben Ouattara, Founder of Flux
