Since its inception in 2010, Pinterest has acquired more than 70 million users who pin inspirational content and do-it-yourself (DIY) projects. The emergence of the DIY revolution was also the catalyst for Darby Smart, an online marketplace offering pre-packaged DIY projects and tested craft supplies.
From 2013 to 2014, Darby Smart saw gross merchandise volume increase by 296%. Most recently, Darby Smart announced a new partnership with Urban Outfitters, which will bring its supplies and project kits to stores. Below, Co-Founder Nicole Shariat Farb comments on Darby Smart’s growth plans, and how the company is helping drive the DIY movement.
Retail TouchPoints (RTP): How would you define Darby Smart and your overall business model?
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Farb:Darby Smart gives you a place to launch, discover and buy DIY projects and supplies. We serve the 51 million crafters in the US. People discover Darby Smart from a variety of channels including Pinterest (DIY is the second largest category), bloggers, word-of-mouth and Facebook.
RTP: How has the Darby Smart business grown or evolved over the past year?
Farb: We launched just over a year ago and have seen incredible growth. This past year we shipped more than 45,000 craft supplies, which is up more than 125% from the previous year. As we’ve grown, we’ve continued to expand DIY categories. Recently, we’ve launched DIY for foodies, DIY for kids and DIY for weddings.
RTP: What campaigns and tactics did you leverage to boost sales over the holiday season?
Farb: Our most effective channels are email, word-of-mouth and social. Over the holidays, we leveraged these channels to communicate unique offerings to our customers. We focused on sharing new DIY ideas each day that inspired people to craft throughout the holidays. We found that giving our customers inspiration led to significant increases in sales.
RTP: How do you believe this Urban Outfitters partnership will help further expand your business?
Farb: This partnership gives us a brick-and-mortar retail presence that we previously didn’t have. It also continues to introduce DIY to a new type of customer: The young, trend-setting female. We chose to partner with Urban Outfitters because we believe there is strong brand alignment.
We don’t have any other partnerships in the works as we’re focused on expanding our current partnership and think there is plenty of room to grow there. We promote the partnership through our channels including email and digital.
RTP: What’s on the agenda for Darby Smart in 2015? Are there any specific goals in place?
Farb: In 2015, we’ll continue to expand the number of DIY projects you can discover on Darby Smart. We’re focused on growing our offerings for kids, which is a massive market.