betashop

Here is an update on how Fab fared this year during the official start to the holiday shopping season. 

During the week from Black Friday, November 23 through Thursday November 29, 2012:

• Fab sold more than $6.5M worth of product this past week, up from $1.7M during the same period last year. That’s up nearly 4 times year-over-year.
   
• Fab hit an all-time single-day high of more than $1.3M in sales on Cyber Monday, November 26. That compares to $350k on the same day last year, up more than 3.5 times. 
   
• Fab averaged $933,500 per day during this past week.
   
• Over 1/3 of sales was via Fab’s mobile apps on mobile devices. We saw record logins and purchases on iPad particularly. For the first time, iPad and iPhone sales were almost equal. Previously we had been seeing more like 60% iPhone & 40% iPad. iPad also led all other platforms (vs. web & mobile phone) in terms of number of items per order and overall basket size.
   
• Average order value was up more than 10% from previous weeks.
   
• More than 10% of every login to Fab resulted in a purchase. 
   
• Fab sold more than 200,000 unique products.
  
  
• Repeat buyers continued to fuel our growth, while we also saw a healthy influx of first-time buyers. About 60% of sales was from repeat buyers.
  
   

The most popular items sold this past week were:

1. glove.ly Classic
2. 10 Piece Knife Set Multi Color
3. Brooklyn Slate Board 10x14 Black
4. The Mountain Pug Tee
5. Weiner Dog Oil & Vinegar Set
6. Beardo Bendable Mo
7. More Varieties Of Beer Poster.
8. Aquaovo Therm-O
9. Octopus Creature Cup Set Blue
10. The Original Cuppow Lid
    
    
    

    

     

This coming Monday December 3, 2012 is the official “Cyber Monday” in the United Kingdom. I’ll update on Tuesday with some stats on how our Europe sales fared then.

Smile, you’re designed to.

At least 25% of Fab’s record breaking Black-Friday - Cyber Monday sales can be traced back to social sources.

Facebook is far and away the biggest such contributor. About 20% of Fab’s revenue from this period came from users who originally joined Fab via Facebook.

Here is a list of the top social traffic sources to Fab during Black-Friday to Cyber-Monday. Note: this list that follows is of social traffic referrals during these 4 days, not revenue generated. We are not disclosing revenue from social sources beyond the 20% from FB at this point.

Black Friday - Cyber Monday social traffic to Fab:

• 65% of all social traffic came from Facebook.
• 20% came from Pinterest.
• 5% came from Twitter.
• 1% came from Coolhunting.
• .5% came from svvply.
• .3% came from Apartment Therapy.
• .3% came from Reddit.
• .3% came from this blog, betashop. Woohoo!
• And then a very long tail of referrals.

I’m pleased to report that Fab smashed all previous records on Modern Monday, Cyber Monday done the Fab way.

Sales up 50% over our previous high set just a few days ago on Color Friday (our take on Black Friday).

Here’s the most amazing stat: 12% of all visits to Fab resulted in a purchase.

And, while Friday was 3 times the sales of last year, Monday was 4 times last year’s sales.

Onward and upward. Lots of Fab boxes to ship. Here’s to many more. Smile, you’re designed to.

I spent election night in India this year. Well, it was morning actually, and bradford and I sat around at TV from 4am to 10m watching it all unfold.

Tonight it’s like election night all over again. 

Here I am in Berlin, 6 hours ahead of eastern time, watching the Cyber Monday (we like to call it “Modern Monday”) returns come in.

I’m thrilled to report that at 5pm eastern, 11pm CET, with 70% of the precincts reporting, Fab has already eclipsed all previous one-day sales records. With loud voices and strong clicks, social sharing, high basket sizes, strong conversion rates, open apps, and fingers swiping, Fab’s members have voted and they have voted loud and clear:

Smile, you’re designed to.

Here is some more data on Fab’s Black Friday weekend. (or, what we preferred to call Color Friday on Fab).

• Mobile orders = 30% of total.
• Mobile revenue = 35% of total.
• iPad conversion rate hit an alltime high of 8%
• Web conversion rate hit an alltime high of 9%
• iPhone conversion rate hit an alltime high of 6%
• Items per order hit an alltime high of 2.6
• iPad led all devices in terms of items per order and average order size
• Fab sold nearly $1M on Black Friday and more than $2.5M over the Black Friday weekend (Friday - Sunday). According to 3rd party data on Black Friday sales, that means that about $1 in every $1000 spent online this past weekend was spent on Fab. Not bad for a company in only its 17 month of operations. 
• 2/3 of Fab’s sales from Black Friday to Cyber Monday came from repeat buyers.

And, we’re just getting started.

Here’s to a Fab Modern Monday.

Smile, you’re designed to.

I write posts like this to remind our team at Fab that this is still just the beginning of a long Fab journey.

We sold more than $4 million worth of product on Fab this past week. 

That’s a lot. 

17 months ago Fab did not even exist.

It’s humbling.

It’s inspiring.

It’s a privilege to have this opportunity to help bring smiles to peoples’ lives.

Yet, we’re only as good as our most recent mistake.

Keep perspective.

Keep learning.

Keep innovating.

We’re still just getting started.

And,

Smile, you’re designed to. 

Wow.

I’m thrilled to announce that Fab’s “Color Friday” results were up 300% yesterday vs 2011.

Mobile sales were especially strong, also tripling vs last year.

More data to follow. Will do a full recap following Modern Monday, November 26, 2012.

Smile, you’re designed to.

On a typical day Fab does around 33% of our sales via our mobile apps.

On Thanksgiving day mobile app sales jumped to 40% of Fab’s total.

It makes sense. Fewer people are sitting around in front of computers on Thanksgiving day. Instead, they are with family, showing them their favorite apps on their phones and tablets.

It also helps that Apple decided to call out Fab as a top holiday shopping pick via this unexpected but well-timed Thanksgiving day tweet today:

Shopping ‘til you drop on #BlackFriday? Skip the lines with@Fab.com. http://tw.appstore.com/eeX 

Smile, you’re designed to.

And, get the Fab app.

5 days ago we announced a partnership with Facebook for holiday gifting.

This morning we announced a partnership with LivingSocial for holiday gifting.

For our third act of the week … we’re announcing a partnership with Cool Hunting for holiday gifting.

Cool Hunting picked their favorites from Fab’s holiday shop.

In total, 37 Fab gifts are being featured on Cool Hunting. Cool Hunting is synonymous with seeking inspiration—their stories and videos highlight creativity and innovation in design, technology, style, culture, food and travel. Fab is synonymous with design. We exist for one simple reason: to make people smile. Fab & Cool Hunting is a match made in design heaven.

Smile, you’re designed to. And, happy gifting! 
 

Here’s how the Fab gifts are seamlessly integrated into Cool Hunting.

I’m thrilled to announce that LivingSocial and Fab have teamed up for the Holidays!

Fab is curating a special collection of top design gifts on LivingSocial. The Fab-curated design gifts are being featured starting today to LivingSocial’s 24 million members in the United States. 50 Fab products just went live on LivingSocial and another 50 will be added next week. More to follow.

This is a perfect partnership between two similar brands. LivingSocial is all about helping people discover great experiences that enrich their lives. Fab is all about helping people discover great designs that make them smile. We could not be more excited by the brand-fit and potential here.

All of the Fab products on LivingSocial are in-stock in Fab’s warehouse and ready to ship immediately.

LivingSocial will be promoting Fab’s products via email and on-site, as seen here.

We could not be more excited about partnering with LivingSocial to bring Fab’s curation to their large and highly engaged customer base.

Smile, you’re designed to.

Strong demand for men’s hats and scarves, outerwear, digital prints, necklaces, unique novelty items, technology products, gadgets and mugs and glasses as Holiday 2012 gifts has helped Fab, the place for everyday design, lift sales 298% from a year ago during the first 15 days of November.

• Sales in the first 15 days of November 2012 averaged nearly $500k per day compared to $160k per day during the same period in 2011.
  
  
• Fab has seen its overall conversion rate of visits to purchase grow by 50% from 4% to 6% during the first half of November 2012.
  
  
• Mobile sales made up 33% of sales in the first half of November 2012, compared to 15% during the same period in 2011. iPhone and iPad sales hit record levels during the first 15 days of November 2012.
   
• Average order value has increased by more than 10% daily since Fab introduced Free Shipping on all orders above $75, now a permanent feature.
  
  
• Sales from repeat buyers — people who had purchased from Fab before — amounted to more than 60% of 2012 holiday sales so far. 
  
  
• Sales specifically from Fab’s 2012 Holiday Shop — a curated selection of our favorite 600 gifts —  are up 400% vs. Holiday Shop sales at this time one year ago.

The Top 10 Breakout Hit Gifts of 2012:

1. Beardo - Fake Facial Hair Accessories.
   
   

   

   
   
   
2. Skip N’ Whistle - Smart Saucy Seasonal Wear.
   
   

   

   
   
   
3. Nespresso - Gourmet Espresso Makers. 
   
   

   

   
   
   
4. Muk Luks- Plush Women’s Slippers And Boots.
   
   

   

   
   
   
5. Vintage Kantha Sari Quilts From India.
   
   

   

   
   
   
6. Lifelike Big Face Animal Tees - The Mountain Corp.
   
   

   

7. Urban Aviary - Absolute Gems.
   
   

   

   
    
8. Creature Cups.
   
   

   

   
   
   
9. Glove.ly - Touchscreen Gloves.
   
   

   

   
   
   
10. The Unemployed Philosophers Guild- Hilarious Pillboxes, Mugs & More.
    
    

    

     

And here’s a graph summarizing top sales by category so far.

Asked to comment, Fab’s CEO Jason Goldberg (that’s me!) said: 

Smile, you’re designed to.

Just in time for the holidays, Fab is teaming up with Facebook to provide a wide range of Fab-curated and Fab-fulfilled everyday design gifts that you can easily send to your Facebook friends on Facebook.

We just took part if Facebook’s big Holiday Gifts launch event at FAO Schwarz in NYC.

This holiday season Fab will be offering dozens of Fab-curated and Fab-fulfilled gifts on Facebook.

The Facebook Gifts flow is really easy.

1. Find a friend. 
   
   
2. Click on the new Gift icon on their Facebook Timeline. 
   
   

   

   
   
   
3. Pick a gift to send them. There’s a great assortment — including lots of Fab products.
   
   
4. The best part is you don’t even need to know your Facebook Friend’s shipping address. Facebook sends them a message asking them to claim their gift. You friend simply enters their own shipping information and a couple of days later they receive your gift to them, fulfilled by Fab.

Fab is honored to have been selected by Facebook to participate in their Holiday 2012 Gifts launch. We’re hopeful that this will be a great benefit to gifters this holiday and beyond!

Smile, you’re designed to.

I’m absolutely thrilled to announce the launch of a project we’ve been working on for 5 months now at Fab.  FREE SHIPPING!

Our team conducted a thorough business analysis and refactored our technology to enable this great benefit for our customers. Globally. We specifically planned Fab’s Free Shipping to launch today, November 15, in time for the holidays — and it’s here to stay. It’s not just a holiday promotion. We believe that the best shipping is fast and free.

—

Hi! Jason Goldberg, CEO of Fab here with an important message to our customers. 

We have a very simple mantra at Fab: Smile, you’re designed to.

Today, we’re going to make you smile even more.

Announcing Free Fast Shipping from Fab: In the U.S. and in Europe.

• Free Shipping in the U.S. on orders of $75 or more.
• Free Shipping in continental Europe on orders of €70 or more.
• Free Shipping in the UK on orders of £70 or more.

* 98% of all products on Fab qualify for free shipping. The exclusions are mostly furniture and bulky items like rugs or super delicate items like some lamps and pictures which may require some extra love and care to get to you.

Just look for the truck icon next to eligible products.

Oh, and while some companies offer free shipping just for the holidays, at Fab this is for real. Free Fast Shipping is here to stay. It’s a critical part of our promise to you. 

Smile, you’re designed to — fast & free!

Hi from Pune, India where Bradford and I are up since 4:30 a.m watching the U.s. election results. And, we have some exciting news to announce!

I’m thrilled to announce that Fab has acquired True Sparrow Systems of Pune, India. The Economic Times of India has details. This is the first time a U.S.-based e-commerce company has acquired an India-based startup technology company.

True Sparrow was founded by Nishith Shah and Deepa Shah (husband and wife) in 2007 to be a Pune startup company working on innovative technology products.

I first met Nishith and Deepa in 2007 when I looked them up after seeing they had founded one of the first highly viral Facebook Application, The Interactive Friends Graph. I was so impressed with them and their work that I begged them to work with me.

Nishith, Deepa, and I co-founded socialmedian together in January 2008. At the time, True Sparrow was 6 people and I traveled to Pune 13 times that year to work with the team. It was a true partnership. We were all shareholders in socialmedian and we shipped code every other day together. socialmedian grew very big very fast and we then sold it to XING of Hamburg, Germany together that same year. During that time Nishith & Deepa built the True Sparrow team up to 15 people, all working on socialmedian. 

In 2009, following the acquisition, Nishith and Deepa and the True Sparrow team all worked for XING, where I was Chief Product Officer.

In January 2010 Nishith and Deepa and the True Sparrow team, along with Bradford Shellhammer, and I founded fabulis.

fabulis was re-launched as Fab in 2011.

True Sparrow and Fab have been operating as 1 team since our beginning. True Sparrow owns stock in Fab and Nishith and Deepa are Founders of Fab.

True Sparrow now has 85 employees, all of whom work on Fab.

What’s happening today is that Fab is formally acquiring True Sparrow so that the teams go from not just 1 team, but to also 1 company with one common vision. 

The acquisition will enable Fab to grow our Pune-based technology team to 150 people next year.

The deal was a combination of cash and stock with performance incentives based on Fab’s future global financial results.

For me, it’s not just business, it’s personal. Nishith & Deepa are family to me. I’ve visited them and our team in Pune more than 40 times the past 5 years. They were special guests at my wedding.  They, along with Sunil Khedar, our VP of Engineering who has been with us since the start, are the smartest hardest working people I have ever had the pleasure to work with. And, they’ve built a fantastic team that mirrors their passion, smarts, and work ethic. When people ask me why I work with an India-based technology team it’s because Nishith, Deepa, Sunil and team are the best of the best.

Welcome to Fab True Sparrow! We are one!

A year ago at this time Fab was 80 people in NYC and 30 in Pune. Today, Fab now has: 230 NYC employees, 180 Berlin employees, 85 Pune employees, and 150 team members at our warehouse in New Jersey. We have 9 million members worldwide and we’re selling 4 products per minute. We’re reinventing and re-imagining e-commerce, social commerce, and mobile commerce. We build all of our own technology. 

And, we’re still just getting started.

Smile, you’re designed to.

Muskurao, tum bane ho muskurane ke liye. 

Now that Fab’s warehouse is up and running after Hurricane Sandy…

We’re thrilled to announce that Fab officially ships Fast. Like really fast.

• Every item in the Fab Holiday Shops are in-stock at our warehouse and ship in 1 to 3 days.
  
  
• Overnight shipping options are also available.
   
• And, it’s not just the items in our Holiday Shops. 70% of all items on Fab now ship in 1 to 3 days.
  
  

Faster shipping. You asked for it, we delivered it.

Smile, you’re designed to.