Most retailers are having a tough enough time keeping their inventory fresh and up to date, let alone trying to figure out how to leverage the newest, latest, greatest social platform for reaching potential customers. The good news is that leveraging the social web isn't about hopping on the newest, latest, greatest social platform. It's about thinking about your business - internally and externally - as a social organization. And what does that mean? Tara Hunt, one of the pioneers of the social web will talk about how to become a social organization without having to keep up with Twitter and how harnessing the innate socialness of the web can help you connect with your customers and build your business.
5. “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?”
THE promise of social
9. In the age of self-expression, branding becomes an even
more important exercise. If you don’t know who YOU are,
then how can you expect your customer to identify
with you?
10. 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.
13. 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 get
followers? points? will her? will it discounts? will I get
it 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?
14. “I know what women want. They
want to be beautiful.”
Valentino
19. in other words...
It’s not your customer’s job to put you first. The world doesn’t
revolve around you, it revolves around her. How can YOU make life
easier for HER?
20. 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 --------->
23. case study 1.
ASOS
17.5 million unique visitors a month
8 million registered users
160 countries
2011 sales: £146.5 million
CREATIVITY
24. next day delivery!
ASOS identified early on that range and free shipping are the most important factors
for their customers - so they spend £60M per year on free shipping plus stocking one
of the largest ranges of fashion merchandise online.
25.
26. ya think that pastels
are on their
customers’ minds?
important to note:
ASOS built a brand and
customer loyalty BEFORE
they built a community with
FashionFinder
27. case study 2.
FAB
1 million registered users in <5 months
4.5 million users
2012 projected sales: $100 million
(already surpassed $300k/day)
CURATION
28. “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
29.
30.
31.
32. case study 3.
modcloth
600% annual growth rate
$20 million sales/year
$45 million raised in VC
COLLABORATION
33. “Susan Koger said ModCloth’s growing success has been
to understand their customers and knowing exactly what
she wants rather than taking a one-size-fits-all approach.”
RetailBiz.com.au
37. case study 4.
brooklyn
industries
$25 million sales/year
online & offline (15 stores)
built without any funding
FAST FASHION
38. “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.”
40. current buying model:
step 1. stimulus
customer has a need. i.e. “ooooo, love that dress
my 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. experience
customer receives item, experiences it, may post
reviews for others to learn from..
41. stimulus + research
buyosphere gives customers a
platform to send out a
public search inquiry that
can be answered by their
peers OR by the designers/
brands themselves.
42. theworldofwonderful.net
designer: julia stanescu
gorgeous hand-made, unique clutches designed
with love by talented Romanian designer.
Fabulous discovery
made because Julia
received the signal.
No traditional
search would turn
this up!
44. Summary
It doesn’t matter which buzzword, trend, bandwagon, etc. you jump onto, you
need 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...
45. Case Study Overview
1. 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.
46. Tara Hunt
CEO & Co-Founder
Buyosphere.com
tara@buyosphere.com