Design shopping site Fab partners with LivingSocial for distribution

Design-centric shopping site Fab is getting a new distribution partner for the holidays. On Thursday, the New York-based company announced that it would curate a special collection of items for deal site LivingSocial‘s gift guide. As part of the deal, LivingSocial will promote the gifts on its site and in emails to its 24 million U.S. members.

Fab, which has 9 million members and its own set of Holiday Shops launched earlier this month, already has strong traction and reach. But the new distribution deal – which the company said is just the second after it’s deal with Facebook – will allow it to access even more shoppers.

“It’s an opportunity for us to get the Fab brand and products out in front of another large user base,” CEO Jason Goldberg told the Wall Street Journal. “Whether it’s LivingSocial or Facebook, it’s less about selling a specific product and more about how do we get introduced to customers we might not be reaching otherwise.”

Though the deal helps Fab reach a broad audience, it was apparently LivingSocial who initiated the conversation, the Journal reported. LivingSocial might have more members, but Fab has a strong following among design-lovers, which could help build LivingSocial’s brand.

The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but the Journal reported that it will be profitable for Fab, which earns revenue from the product sales, while LivingSocial receives a marketing fee for distribution.

Fab has already had something of a banner year. At the start of the year, it had just 1.5 million members but has been growing steadily. It raised a massive $ 105 million round of funding in July (and added another $ 15 million earlier this month) and reaches customers in 26 countries.


GigaOM