Three reasons to like Saks’ new content hub
Saks Fifth Avenue is launching a new user-generated content hub on its e-commerce site. Called #SaksStyle and based on the Curalate Fanreel image integration platform, #SaksStyle allows customers to display photos from Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr in a social shopping environment.
Here are three reasons to like (and very possibly emulate) what Saks is doing with its latest social venture.
1. Social platform? Who cares?
The most important technical aspect of #SaksStyle isn’t any one of the social platforms it accepts images from, but the Fanreel platform that makes the specific originating point of customer photos irrelevant. Consumer preferences for one social platform over another vary greatly by demographic and are also subject to quickly changing fads. In addition, consumers are starting to use back-end tools to gain access to multiple social accounts from one common log-in, blurring the distinction in their minds.
Saks is intelligently responding to the new social media landscape by focusing more on the images and less on what platform they come from. Consumers are also offered the simplicity of using the same #SaksStyle hashtag for all four social platforms. This leads to the second reason #SaksStyle has the early markings of a winner.
2. Your customer is your best marketer
Saks will curate the best user images for daily display on #SaksStyle, and users will be able to search and sort images by a wide variety of personalized preferences. Thus Saks is gaining a trove of promotional images at no cost. Furthermore, consumers are more likely to trust and relate to promotions coming from fellow shoppers, as opposed to obvious advertising campaigns featuring paid models and celebrities who may or may not actually endorse the items they are wearing.
Even better, customer selfies will be shoppable. Customers will be able to click on images of apparel and accessories they like and purchase them directly from the Saks website. Highly convenient for the customer, and of course Saks doesn’t mind that this creates an impulse shopping experience perhaps second only to candy placed at kids-eye view in a checkout line.
3. Don’t forget the store
Saks is taking a truly omnichannel approach to #SaksStyle by placing vinyl decals in the fitting rooms of ready-to-wear and contemporary departments of all stores, to allow customers to instantly share products. The store is still the epicenter of sales and profitability for Saks (and most other omnichannel retailers), especially where apparel and accessories customers often want to test out the fit and look of products in person before buying.
In addition, a fitting room photo has an immediacy and authenticity that cannot be duplicated. Nothing conveys a shopper’s excitement about an article of clothing more than the fact they couldn’t even wait to put their own clothes back on and make a purchase before showing it off to the world.
It is far too early to actually declare #SaksStyle a success, but Saks (and Curalate) deserve kudos for devising an inclusive, accessible and cost-effective means of increasing customer participation, loyalty and sales using increasingly important visual social media tools.