My summary of Faire before using it? I think Faire is a marketplace not too dissimilar to eBay, Depop or Etsy. The biggest difference being that Fairy is a B2B marketplace, so I expect more of a focus on wholesale and product categories geared towards businesses.
How does Faire explain itself in the first minute? When I go to the Faire website it says “Your one-stop shop for wholesale” on its homepage, above the fold. This strap line is followed by two calls to action: “sign up to the shop” and “apply as a brand”. There are over 13,000 brands selling their products on Faire.
How does Faire work (for buyers)? Faire offers a number of product categories, for shops to buy in bulk online: home decor, food & drink, women, beauty & wellness, jewellery, paper & novelty, kids & baby, pets, and men. If I go, for example, to the “beauty & wellness” product category and filter by bath & body products, I see a number of relevant products. You’ll need to sign up with Faire first to be able to view the individual product pages, but the first thing that strikes me is the minimum purchase value required for each product. UK shops or professionals will have to wait if they want to use Faire, as it doesn’t operate in the UK currently.
How does Faire work (for brands)? The Faire site highlights “brands not sold on Amazon”; over 5,000 brands that can’t be found on Amazon. I therefore presume that these brands have some sort of exclusivity agreement with Faire, with Faire working hard to promote these brands and their products. For example, Los Angeles-based “Moira Cosmetics” has a nice looking page for their 435 products, which can be filtered by newness, beauty & wellness, paper & novelty and kids & baby.
People can read more about Moira Cosmetics, their story and brand values. Interesting that the buyer reviews have a visual of the relevant products purchased, which can be added to bag, straight from the review.
Main learning point: From a customer experience point of view, Faire feels similar to marketplaces like Amazon, Etsy and Not On The Highstreet. However, given its focus on businesses, Faire has a strong membership feel to its proposition and experience.
Related links for further learning:
https://www.ycombinator.com/library/5v-on-starting-and-scaling-a-b2b-marketplace-startup-faire
