SC

Strategy Canon

Fab: sourced choices

20 product and go-to-market choices, oldest first. Back to the case study

  1. 2011Product · Merchandising Bradford Shellhammer brought home-design retail experience to the product selection. FA6
  2. 2011Product · Sales format The early service offered time-limited selections from outside designers; the student analysis describes this model. FA4
  3. 2011Go_To_Market · Initial demand Goldberg reports $18m of merchandise sales in the launch year; this is not profit. FA1
  4. 2011-06Product · Business pivot Fab changed from a social network to design-goods flash sales. FA1
  5. 2012Product · Recurring discovery Daily email introduced the changing assortment to registered shoppers. FA1
  6. 2012Product · Physical delivery The operating model depended on people, inventory and warehouses, according to Goldberg. FA1
  7. 2012Go_To_Market · Demand growth Goldberg reports $112m of merchandise sales in 2012, below the $140m plan. FA1
  8. 2012Go_To_Market · Email audience The founder reports more than 10m daily-email signups, which are not active buyers. FA1
  9. 2012Go_To_Market · International entry Fab expanded into Europe through acquisitions. FA1
  10. 2012Go_To_Market · Paid acquisition The founder identifies online marketing and television advertising among major spending commitments. FA1
  11. 2013Product · Retail transition The outside analysis identifies a move toward holding inventory and a broader ecommerce offer. FA4
  12. 2013Product · Assortment Shellhammer's later account criticizes the loss of a coherent product selection as the company grew. FA6
  13. 2013Go_To_Market · Strategic choice Goldberg says the board chose continued high growth over a US-only route toward profitability. FA1
  14. 2013Go_To_Market · Funding dependence The growth plan required a larger financing round than the company ultimately obtained. FA1
  15. 2013Go_To_Market · Marketing reduction Goldberg reports that cutting marketing was followed by falling sales. FA1
  16. 2013Go_To_Market · Referral acquisition Fab used referral credits, described by Shellhammer's interviewer as part of its acquisition drive. FA6
  17. 2014Product · Remaining stock Goldberg says remaining Fab inventory complicated the effort to separate the later Hem business. FA1
  18. 2014Product · Separate furniture offer Hem launched as a furniture business while the Fab brand still existed. FA6
  19. 2015Go_To_Market · Buyer trust Shellhammer connected retail sustainability to trust in the assortment rather than signups alone. FA6
  20. 2015-03-03Product · Business transfer PCH acquired the Fab business; the source reports a cash-and-stock transaction. FA7