Shopping is a form of entertainment for some and something to be more avoided than herpes for others.
Shopping brings some to tears, for the retail and fashion obsessed it is a joyous synergy and celebration of capitalism, consumerism and style.
Waiting for new designs to be launched at the favourite fashion store are waited upon by fashionistas with expectant excitement, like children waiting for Santa and his sleigh.
Sharing your shopping experiences was usually reserved to a chat over the phone with your girlfriends or while having a coffee or a quick liquid lunch.
Shopping has been social for a long time but now we have social networks that can enhance and accelerate that joy by being able to share in an instant with 200 friends at once on Facebook, rather having to wait for the weekend.
What is Social Commerce?
Social commerce is at a tipping point as Facebook brand sites with millions of fans integrate shopfronts into custom tabs on the social network platform and also enable sharing of those buying experiences at the height of the “retail high”
Social commerce is described as
“The use of social network(s) in the context of e-commerce transactions”
What is Omni Commerce?
If you want to get really funky the term “Omni-commerce” describes commerce as a multi-channel approach to retail that allows the consumer to buy from the channel that suits them at the time that is convenient, whether that be a mobile, a physical store or from the quiet of the laptop at your desktop location at home.
Nothing quite ensuring that your buyers can’t escape you whenever they have the urge to splash out on their latest fashion fix!
F-Commerce is Evolving
On Facebook the evolution of the socialization of commerce can be put into perspective by listing 7 key commercial dimensions of online social retailing that are now features of the Facebook commerce feature set.(as displayed in this diagram by Horizon Studios.
The combination of these elements combined with social and mobile (Geo-Location) is driving a retail revolution that at its ultimate offers to match the what you want with when you want it at your current location.
Is this “Retail Nirvana”?… the ultimate predictive personalisation of shopping and buying that combines
“What and When with Where”
Even Google’s Former CEO Eric Schmidt sees technology evolving to the point that
“…people will want Google to tell them what they should be doing next…we know roughly who you are, roughly what you care about, roughly who your friends are.”
The element to add to this is that with a mobile in your hand they “Google and Facebook” (and friends) also know where you are!
5 Top Facebook Fashion Brand Pages
So how are the top fashion brands on Facebook adapting to this technology revolution that will forever change the face of retail and how are they approaching social commerce on Facebook?
1. Victoria’s Secret
If you want to take a peek into how a lingerie brand manages to spread its message then Victoria’s Secret is a best of breed example. With over 16 million fans and deep pockets you may not be able to commit the budget and resources, but maybe you can take a staged approach to development.
The features worth emulating that are within its Facebook site are:
- A YouTube channel linked and embedded
- iPhone App
- iPad App
- Ability to subscribe to the latest news and sales via email
- Get updates and alerts from your mobile
- Online video fashion show
- Reward cards
- Gift cards
- Wallpaper downloads for your desktop so you can have lingerie with you all day and into the night!
- Contests
2. Threadless
T-shirts maybe not be as sexy as lingerie but despite their humble origins as work wear, they have become as ubiquitous as denim jeans.
Threadless offer some functionality and elements that engage and reward their fans
- Vote for the T-shirts you like and add a comment (Crowd sourced research) – cost zero!
- Facebook shop (this takes you off site to their ecommerce store)
- Design challenge feature to further engage the customer
3. HauteLook
The rise of private membership limited time e-commerce sites drives the acquisition of email subscribers that allow you to push offers out to.
HauteLook specializes in the premium fashion brand vertical targeting women, men, kids, home, beauty, and travel.
Their Facebook page with over 470,000 likes is about creating awareness and sneek peeks into
The main feature of this site is acquiring more Facebook “Likes” to receive special Facebook Fan-Only benefits only. These include
- Facebook only sale events
- First look previews at upcoming events and products
- Facebook only coupons and prmotions
- Exclusive giveaways and sweepstakes
- Inter4views with fashion experts and designers
4. Lacoste
Lacoste is the second fashion brand in this collection that offers a Facebook shop and as with Threadless takes you to their ecommerce website for the actual product buying process.
Facebook for most brands is about spreading their brand Facebook like acquisition and engaging fans with special and exclusive offers.
One of the main drivers for consumers to “like” brands is to receive special discounts and coupons.
One feature that I like about this Facebook fashion page is its section on ”How do you wear Lacoste” . It is about educating on how to dress with style.
5. Theory
Facebook is a multi-media social network so providing text, images and video are what your fans will expect. The “Theory” Facebook page provides a wide range of videos to display its fashion products.
Theory has several tabs that require you to like “Theory” to access exclusive content.
One other feature of this page is the iPhone app to be able to receive inside information and offers on your iPhone, which you will find under the “Theory Insider Poses” tab.
Takeaways
What are key elements we can learn from these Fashion Facebook pages that you could apply to your Facebook page
- Offer exclusive content or offers to drive more Facebook “likes”
- If your business model suits online shopping then include your store on your Facebook page A lot of e-commerce systems and platforms are now offering this feature this including “Magento”
- Make your page Multi-media rich so as to engage your fans
- Run customer research (eg Threadless) surveys so you can continually refine your design and production according to your customers feedback. It will save you time and money
- A custom “Welcome” tab is much more inviting than landing on a “Wall” as ytour entry to a brand or business Facebook page