Groupon is extending its presence into digital fashion retail with the $43m (£26.2m) buyout of out of New Yorks ideeli.

ideeli specialises in flash sales created by buying up excess or sample clothing, accessories and home ranges and quickly selling them on. The company has two apps for iOS, as well as one for Android, and mobile was cited as a key reason behind the acquisition.

Groupon has been bolstering its mobile efforts for some time now and announced a record 9m quarterly global downloads of its apps in Q3, bringing the total to 60m worldwide. More than half of its US transactions and almost 40 per cent across the world are now done via mobile. It also completed the buyout of South Koreas Ticket Monster mCommerce business in Q3.

“Ideeli extends our fashion presence and brings great relationships with many of the top brands in apparel,” said Groupon CEO Eric Lefkofsky. “Our customers have a demonstrated appetite for these offers, and by broadening our reach in this space Groupon is even better positioned as the place you start when you want to do or buy just about anything, anytime, anywhere.”

Groupon says ideeli will continue to operate as a separate website and is offering 20 per cent off any purchase made today. For the year to 2 February 2013, ideeli made $115m in revenue but was left with a a $30m operating loss.