Three retailers taking a high-tech approach to influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is becoming big business, and retailers are using technology innovation to integrate influencers with their promotions.
Influencers, content creators and celebrities all represent a significant opportunity for retailers to obtain credibility, gain access to built-in fan bases, and potentially extend their commercial reach via affiliate marketing and sales.
Consumers, especially younger Gen Z and millennial shoppers, now often look to influencers as their primary source of product discovery and purchase inspiration.
[READ MORE: Survey: Majority of social media purchases fueled by online influencers]
Teaming up with influencers doesn’t require the use of innovative technology, but many retailers are finding that a creative application of tech solutions can help an influencer promotion connect with customers. Here are three recent examples:
eBay
eBay is launching "The NYC Edit," a digital publication focused on what used fashion products leading New York style influencers are buying and selling on its platform.
The online retail giant is partnering with 10 fashion influencers, stylists and creators living in New York City, including stylist and fashion editor Dara Allen, actor and comedian Owen Thiele, and fashion writer Emilia Petrarca, to produce "The NYC Edit."
The guide is available on a dedicated section of the eBay site and features curated storefronts that customers can use to shop the pieces the influencers are buying and selling, as well as for suggestions on what to list for sale.
Skechers
Footwear brand Skechers has officially unveiled a hologram activation at its Manhattan Beach, Calif. store in partnership with Howie Mandel, a judge in the long-running “America’s Got Talent” reality TV competition, and holographic communications platform Proto Hologram.
Skechers is permanently installing a life-sized, interactive and immersive 3D Mandel hologram designed by Proto Hologram at its Manhattan Beach location. This implementation marks one of the first permanent Proto Hologram installations in a footwear retail.
Customers can interact with the hologram, take a “Proto Selfie” with it, and obtain access to a promotion through the experience. Skechers is building on an existing promotional partnership with Mandel which began before he was an official ambassador when he walked into a Skechers store, took a selfie, and joked that he should get a discount because he already represented the brand.
Ulta Beauty
Ulta Beauty recently introduced the Ulta Beauty Roster, a collective of professional female athletes. The beauty retailer selected six athletes across sports including basketball, tennis, soccer, volleyball, flag football and pickleball to share beauty routines and confidence rituals.
Customers will be able to purchase Ulta Beauty Cards, digital trading cards featuring the six Ulta Beauty Roster athletes. Dedicated social cards for each athlete will highlight their "powers" and essential beauty products from Ulta Beauty to honor their achievements and serve as a product discovery platform.
The six athletes are pickleball champion Anna Leigh Walters, Los Angeles Sparks pro basketball forward Dearica Hamby; Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) champion Emma Navarro, three-time NCAA volleyball champion and inaugural LOVB Champion & Finals MVP Madisen Skinner, and Gotham FC & USWNT soccer forward Midge Purce, and 3x IFAF Flag Football world champion and quarterback of the U.S. National Women’s Flag Football Team Vanita Krouch.
