Asos co-founder Quentin Griffiths has this week launched a private sales site for luxury brands ranging from homewares to toys.

The etailer, Achica, has launched in beta mode and will run three sales a week. Griffiths has launched the venture with Will Cooper, former chief executive of affiliate marketing company TradeDoubler.

Achica will hold 48-hour sales for members across categories including homewares, gardens, kids, sports and gifts, with up to 70% off brands on the site. Private sales sites have become increasingly popular in the online space, with French site Vente-Privee and News International’s Brand Alley launching in the UK.

However, most private sales sites have been in the fashion sector so far, not homewares.

Griffiths was one of the founders of online fashion retailer Asos, along with Asos chief executive Nick Robertson, and also helped to launch ethical etailer Ascension and lingerie etailer Becheeky.com.

MyDeco set to launch iPhone app

Mydeco - the homewares site of internet entrepreneur Brent Hoberman, who co-founded Lastminute.com - is to launch an iPhone application later this month that will allow users to place furniture into rooms virtually.

The application, called Furnish Your Photo, will let customers drag an object on to a picture of any room to see how it looks and either email the result to friends or put it on a Facebook site to get feedback.