Front page of Fab.com. Deceptively simple, giving anyone a shot to be next to the big players. (via fab.com obviously)
Now for a different side of industry...
The dot com boom of the 90s made people realize the difficulty that any website would have staying in business online. Those that have done it successfully are still growing. The harshness of the online environment eventually gives way to gems that stand out from the rest.
Online retail may seem like an old game to play, especially for a dot com, but different business structures, values and goals are making Fab.com a website to keep track of in the next few years. Chief creative officer and Fab.com co-founder, Bradford Shelhammer, says this website is different that the regular retail website because it tries to create a more accessible platform for fashion, for both consumer and designers. He says the fashion world has become too elitist and Fab.com will be a way of democratising the scene.
The website’s message has resonated. They now have 10 million members, $150 million in annual sales and assessments of the company value it between $600 and $700 million even though it was launched 2 years ago in 2011.
The site sells up to date fashion from iconic designers, but it also provides a place where independent designers can sell their creations. Of course, what makes it special are the prices, which as Shelhammer explains makes Fab.com “an alternative to the gross American big box retail experience. “
Last year, select prints of photographs taken by Frank Worth of Hollywood’s Golden Age were sold on the website. Over 1,000 lithographs were sold in a matter of days; a testament to the website’s reach.
Fab.com’s model of affordable prices and clean trendy designs have also gotten comparisons to Ikea’s, which is working wonderfully. A smartphone app allows access to the websites daily deals but as Shelhammer says “ We are still scratching the surface.”
Sales in Q4 2012 were up five-fold from the previous year. The message generated from sales has also resonated with investors. The list of Fab.com investors is deep and includes Andreessen Horowitz, First rounds Capital, Baroda Ventures, Menlo Ventures, ru-net Technology Partners, Pinnacle Ventures, Mayfield Fund, Troy Carter and Docomo Capital. Most notably, Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom invested $105 million in Fab.com with his international venture firm Atomico.
New investors are helping the website take on international markets. In February 2012, the company launched Fab.de, which sells to 18 European countries. Currently the company sells to 20 countries but in 2013, with more investment and guidance of international investors, Fab.com will begin sales to Japan, Brazil, Turkey and India. In 2012, 20% of sales were projected to come from international sales, but by 2014, CEO and Fab.com web & mobile designer, Jason Goldberg, expects 50% of sales to come from the world market.
Fab.com founders got a first had view of online business hardships when their first website fabulis.com, a social network for the gay community, went under with stagnant memberships.
Now, after monstrous profit, millions in investments, 400 employees scattered around NYC and a crew of 50 Fab.com design scouts, Goldberg and Shelhammer are still all about their community.
“My co-founder, Bradford, and I decided from the beginning that we’d never make a single decision about what goes on the website based on how much money we’ll make on a particular product. Instead, we ask, Will it make customers smile? Excite them? Make them tell their friends about it? The biggest realization I’ve has is that if you really want to build a successful business, it’s not about how much money you’re making. It’s emotional. For us, it’s how do we make our customers smile? Every single decision we make comes down to that.” – Jason Goldberg
Check out their up and coming site www.fab.com and vote on what makes you “smile."
Now all they need is to provide designers with an anvenue for manufacturing, then they will really have something revolutionary.
Cabe