Mark Vadon and Darrell Cavens were part of the first e-commerce revolution as two of the early executives at Blue Nile, the Seattle online diamond retailer. Now, the two Internet pioneers are cooking up a new idea that they believe will transform the way that people shop online. They've already landed some serious cash from one of Seattle's top venture capital firms, and they are just a few months away from turning on the new service.

Vadon and Cavens -- who we wrote about last month when we discovered their stealthy new startup -- today unveiled the company's name, Zulily, and its financial backing, $4.6 million from Maveron. What's Zulily up to?

Cavens describes the six-person startup as a private sales club where parents -- specifically busy moms -- sign up to receive daily alerts on special sales related to clothes, furniture and other gear for babies and kids.

The sales are hosted for a limited time -- typically 72 hours -- with a limited quantity available to members of the club. Discounts range from 20 percent to 70 percent off the suggested retail price. Membership is free.

"That's the thing that has gotten us so excited is just how consumers are really excited about this method of shopping," said Cavens, adding that people like the concept of receiving daily deals in their email inbox.

Others are responding to the idea as well.

The parent company of Rue La La -- a private sales club for luxury products like handbags and shoes -- was recently sold to GSI Commerce for $350 million. At the time of its sale, Rue La La boasted 1.2 million members in its club and quarterly revenue of $28 million, according to The New York Times. Meanwhile, Amazon.com was recently rumored to be in the market to buy one of the originators of the private sale concept: France-based Vente-Privee.

Zulily is still a few months away from its official launch, which is slated to occur early next year. And most of the other private sales clubs are targeting different demographics, other than a new site called Totsy which just emerged. Like Zulily, New York-based Totsy is targeting busy moms who are looking for unique baby products at a good price.

Cavens

Cavens said that he and Vadon came up with the idea for Zulily after brainstorming new e-commerce business concepts. They liked the idea of focusing on baby and kids products because there are hundreds -- possibly thousands -- of brands that are looking for exposure.

"This market has been commoditized somewhat on the low-end by some of the big box retailers, but as you move up it is still very much a market dominated by boutique local shops," he said. "And many of these brands -- these thousands of suppliers -- have a challenge getting distribution and marketing and awareness."

Zulily is hoping to shine a light on some of those high-quality products, taking a cut on sales that flow through its service. The exact percentage will vary depending upon the product and the supplier.

"Our hope is to keep our costs very low and pass on as much savings as we can to the consumer," Cavens said. The goal is to reach profitability on a small membership base, though Cavens declined to provide that number.

Zulily is looking to tap the marketing and consumer retail expertise of Maveron -- an early investor in companies such as drugstore.com, eBay and Pinkberry -- to attract members. As a result of the investment, Maveron's Jason Stoffer has joined the Zulily board.

Of course, with baby and kid products, sometimes the element of surprise is outweighed by an actual need for a specific item. In those cases, Zulily might not be the best fit since shoppers aren't sure what they will be offered from day to day.

"This won't be right for every purchase, for every consumer at every time," admits Cavens. However, he said that they hope to present a diverse and unique set of products that grabs the attention of shoppers each day.

As part of the service, Zulily will handle the packaging and shipping of products to consumers. When the product arrives on the door step, it will appear in a Zulily box.

John Cook is co-founder of TechFlash. Follow on Twitter @johnhcook.