Founded in 2020 with the promise of simplifying gift-giving, Goody enabled gifting without a mailing address. Instead, a link is sent in a text or email and the recipient can choose among gifts of a set value—typically $25, $50, or $100—without seeing any prices listed.
Not long after it started as consumer-facing, however, Goody noticed something, according to Katy Carrigan, who wasn’t at the company then but now serves as CEO.
“They found the…highest value users—defined as gifting very frequently and in high dollar amounts—were individuals with work email addresses,” Carrigan told Retail Brew. It appeared that the platform was being used for gifts for employees, clients, and sales prospects, and that, Carrigan explained, indicated “that there was this need for a business solution.”
It was Carrigan whom Goody first hired as a consultant in 2021 to develop its B2B program. Today, more than 12,000 companies, including Facebook, Google, and Dropbox use Goody for employee recognition, according to the company.
Full disclosure: This reporter received a Goody gift from Morning Brew recently for a work anniversary and got to wondering. How do brands end up on Goody? What value, besides selling their products, do brands see in being there? And how is it structured to be financially viable for Goody, the brands, and the workplaces alike?
So we sat down with Goody and some of the brands on the platform to learn, in every sense, what gives.
Goody with numbers: Goody resembles a marketplace, but it’s not the same as a typical retail scenario, where companies sell products wholesale, and retailers resell them at—fingers crossed—a profit.
“We typically use the term ‘revenue-share,’” said Carrigan, explaining that Goody earns a percentage off each sale that varies per retail partner, but declining to reveal a typical cut. Goody also earns a 5% processing fee on every order, paid by purchasers.
Goody has no inventory or warehouses, with the brands drop-shipping, a cinch for most of its brands that are DTC and already doing so. (For companies with no shipping departments, Goody connects them with logistics vendors.)
Perhaps the biggest selling point to employers is how different the selection is from traditional corporate gifts like baskets and bouquets. Among the numerous options are Graza Spanish olive oils, Aura digital frames, and a Quince sheepskin rug.
Employees picking the gift themselves allows for a range of products that, while people might be delighted to choose them, if employers sent them directly, could be more than a little problematic.
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Consider, for example, personal care and beauty brands like Esker Beauty and Kosterina Skincare that are on Goody.
“Can you imagine in a normal corporate environment where I’m sending an employee a beauty routine?” posited Haviv Zahav, who oversees Goody’s partnerships department. “That might not come off so well. I might be like, ‘Oh, was I not presenting well on the Zoom call?”
Better yet, run this Goody gift through Zahav’s hypothetical: AuraGlow’s teeth-whitening kit.
Goody vibrations: Andrew Spellman, VP of corporate markets at Therabody, which makes the Theragun and other massage and wellness products, said the company sold more than 1,500 items through Goody in Q4 alone. Therabody’s most-redeemed product on Goody is a massager, the Wave Duo, an offering for recipients whose gift-giver chose products valued at $100.
Spellman figures Therabody’s customer-acquisition cost is as much as $400, and when the Wave Duo on Goody is consumers introduction to the brand, it could bode well if they subsequently splurge for the latest edition of the Theragun Pro Plus, which costs $600.
“They’re able to get into our product family at a reasonable price point,” Spellman said.
What Therabody can’t know for sure, however, is exactly how many Goody redeemers are first-time customers, because data privacy rules keep the Goody users’ email addresses and phone numbers from them.
Finding demo: Manuel Guardiola, VP of digital marketing and e-commerce at personal care and lifestyle brand Malin+Goetz, said a bestseller for the company on Goody is a travel kit with six travel-sized versions of popular hair, body, and face products. For newbies to the brand, that’s a half-dozen products they could potentially fall in love with and purchase full-sized versions.
“We developed this product with this in mind,” Guardiola told Retail Brew. “[They’re] very important SKUs for us across all the channels.”
Carrigan noted that Goody redeemers who were given gifts by their employers might be more inclined than the average consumer to spend their own money on products they discovered on the platform.
After all, not only are they employed, but their employers are flush enough to send them gifts.
“So the audience is definitely one that brands want, in that they’re individuals with disposable income,” Carrigan said.