Shutterfly Files for IPO

A few highlights from the Shutterfly S-1:

• $83.9 million in revenue last year with net income of $28.9 million (But $24 million was from a one-time tax benefit recognized in Q4 2005. The revenue growth is strong year over year.
• They have stored more than 900 million customer photos in their archives.
• They have sold 300 million prints in 11 million customer orders.
• 84% of their customers are female.

This is a bit surprising to me.

• 98% of the revenue comes from the U.S. Even more surprising. Who is doing online print processing internationally?
• 4.1 million unique visitors in May 2006

Since I tend to focus on marketing strategies, here is the text from the S-1 about Marketing, Advertising and Promotion:

We use a variety of advertising, direct marketing technologies, channels, methods and strategic alliances to attract and retain our customers. These methods include direct marketing over the Internet, e-mail marketing to prospects and existing customers, search engine marketing, and traditional direct marketing mailings such as postcards and seasonal catalogs. In addition, because many of our products are either shared via the Internet or given as gifts, the appearance of our brand on the products and packaging provides ongoing distribution as well as viral advertising.

We place advertisements that cater to women and families on websites and in publications, contract for targeted e-mail marketing services and contract for advertising placement on leading search engines. We also maintain an affiliate program under which we pay program participants for referral sales generated from hyperlinks to our website from the affiliate