Others suggest Bluefly is trying to stay aloft long enough to become an attractive takeover target. Analysts are skeptical about Bluefly's prospects because the company is in one of the toughest sectors of online retailing. It's not easy to sell clothes on the Net, where customers can't try them on or touch the fabric. It's even harder for a startup like Bluefly, which doesn't have retail outlets or name recognition. That's not the least of it.
Inventory is inconsistent and unpredictable.
And the online seller can't use designers' names in its advertising. Despite the challenges, Seiff and his backers say this is a Web niche that Bluefly can fill, given time. There's no one out there doing exactly what they're doing. With this round of financing, they're prepared to continue to execute their business strategy, which has been performing well. Seiff, who has manned customer-service lines himself during crunch times, has watched his company grow from 6 people and 100 orders a day two years ago to a staff of 90 and 5,000 orders on peak December days.