the social retailer:what ‘social’ means
for the future of commerce by Tara Hunt, buyosphere.com

what is the promise of
the social web?

NOT the promise of social

NOT social(this is embarrassing)

“What is that thing we
can do to help make our customers’ lives simpler, less confusing, lessalienating, more efficient, more meaningful and just plain better?” THE promise of social

step 1.who is your customer?

who is she? and more
importantly: WHO ARE YOU?

a strong brand identity is
more important now than ever:

In the age of self-expression,
branding becomes an evenmore important exercise. If you don’t know who YOU are, then how can you expect your customer to identify with you?

the good news: there are
lots of ways to connect now. the bad news:you still think it’s all about you and your needs.

step 2.who is your customer?
what does she need?

number 1.motivation

the what’s-in-it-for-me model made laid
paid will this bring me will this make me can I make a living by popularity? will I get more desirable to him/ doing this? will I getfollowers? points? will her? will it discounts? will I getit validate my talent? make me more free stuff out of it? will can it help me jump attractive? will it land it get me that coveted the line or cross the me the man/woman job? velvet rope? Will it of my dreams?make me feel special?

“I know what women want.
They want to be beautiful.” Valentino

fashion is aspirational

goodclothesopen all doors thomas fuller

number 2.ease her mind

credit: more.com

in other words... It’s not
your customer’s job to put you first. The world doesn’trevolve around you, it revolves around her. How can YOU make life easier for HER?

fun (though slightly sexist) idea
to make shopping more pleasurable for everyone. <-----------------many stores are implementing mobile POS in order to cut down on big queue’s to the cash --------->

customers aren’t complicated. they want:
1. great customer service 2. good value 3. convenience 4. a fast finish

step 3.who is your customer?
making it happen

case study 1.ASOS17.5 million unique
visitors a month 8 million registered users 160 countries 2011 sales: £146.5 million CREATIVITY

next day delivery!ASOS identified early
on that range and free shipping are the most important factorsfor their customers - so they spend £60M per year on free shipping plus stocking one of the largest ranges of fashion merchandise online.

ya think that pastelsare on
theircustomers’ minds? important to note: ASOS built a brand and customer loyalty BEFOREthey built a community with FashionFinder

case study 2. FAB1 million
registered users in <5 months 4.5 million users 2012 projected sales: $100 million (already surpassed $300k/day) CURATION

“Everything we do has to
be well- designed,” the CEO (of Fab.com) said.“Social can’t be a bolt-on; it has to be part of the core experience and designed really, really well.” VentureBeat

case study 3.modcloth 600% annual
growth rate $20 million sales/year $45 million raised in VC COLLABORATION

“Susan Koger said ModCloth’s growing
success has beento understand their customers and knowing exactly whatshe wants rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.” RetailBiz.com.au

be the buyer

$500 in cash production +
same of your piece your garment will be sold on Modcloth.com1900 designs submitted in under 2 weeks.

more collaboration examples:

case study 4. brooklynindustries $25
million sales/year online & offline (15 stores) built without any funding FAST FASHION

“As fast fashion continues to
win over shoppers, more specialty retailers like Brooklyn Industries, which traditionally freshened merchandise just a few times a season, find they, too, must speed up their turnaround cycles.”

who is your customer? buyosphere.com

current buying model: step 1.
stimuluscustomer has a need. i.e. “ooooo, love that dressmy friend pinned. Would love something similar, but less expensive.” step 2. research (zmot) customer spends time researching options:searches, reads reviews, goes between favorite stores, asks opinions, reads magazines...etc step 3. decision (fmot)customer finds that perfect thing and orders it. step 4. experiencecustomer receives item, experiences it, may post reviews for others to learn from..

stimulus + researchbuyosphere gives customers
a platform to send out a public search inquiry that can be answered by their peers OR by the designers/ brands themselves.

theworldofwonderful.net designer: julia stanescu gorgeous
hand-made, unique clutches designed with love by talented Romanian designer.Fabulous discoverymade because Juliareceived the signal. No traditional search would turn this up!

in summarywho is your customer?
the social retailer

SummaryIt doesn’t matter which buzzword,
trend, bandwagon, etc. you jump onto, youneed to understand the following to be a social retailer:1. The core question: “What is that thing we can do to help make our customers’ lives simpler, less confusing, less alienating, more efficient, more meaningful and just plain better?”2. who is your customer? who are YOU for that matter? BRAND matters more and more. connecting with your customer means you are helping her express who she is...3. what does your customer need? what’s in it for her? what does she need other than to buy one of your products/services? the more you know about her, the better you’ll be able to answer this one...

Case Study Overview1. ASOS -
built their success by spending their $$ on satisfying the basic need of their customer: quick & free shipping. now they are co-creating editorial to help new customers.2. FAB - built their success on putting their customers’ happiness at the core of everything they do. Curation and creating ‘smiles’ is the key.3. MODCLOTH - is building their success because they collaborate with their customer to merchandise.4. BROOKLYN INDUSTRIES - is looking to be more successful by responding to the needs of the customer: the demand for fast fashion (locally)5. BUYOSPHERE - is all about connecting people looking for unique items with designers and retailers offering unique items. we are building our success on connecting treasure hunters with treasure makers.

Tara HuntCEO & Co-FounderBuyosphere.comtara@buyosphere.com