Is the Facebook “Like” the next crowdsourcing tool?
Facebook’s “Like” button is becoming much more than a thumbs-up seal of approval. Urban Outfitters is now integrating “Liking” into a social shopping experience to boost its already massive online following and growing online sales, which could also prove to be the next method of community crowdsourcing.
When it comes to social shopping, the online clothing sector is one of the most intriguing to report on. ASOS clothing has proven itself more than capable at building an online community around its brand, and Levi’s was one of the first to integrate the Facebook “Like” system into its website. But now, UO has gone a step further to use Facebook “Likes” for crowdsourcing.
It works like this: First, UO makes sure that its Facebook page of 313,000 fans is well connected with its online retail site, so that “Liking” certain clothing on the website turns up as a social advertisement. Then, UO tallies the number of “Likes” for each piece of clothing on its website and gives shoppers the option of browsing clothes in the order of the “Most Liked“. Finally, UO gets an exclusive list of the most popular clothing in its inventory, to help determine future designs and promotions.
To be sure, this is no marketing gimmick. Urban Outfitter’s online and catalog sales have increased by 25% a year since 2005, with revenue growing from $130 million in 2005 to $320 million in 2009. Forbes estimates that this number will be over $400 million by the end of the year.
Regardless, there is one problem with UO’s social shopping strategy that we should all consider. This new “Most Liked” system assumes that UO shoppers want to buy what other UO shoppers think is cool, which entirely makes sense for most other clothing brand on the planet. But UO, marketing itself as the global boutique retailer that “doesn’t even have a logo”, attracts the hip and urban crowd that loves searching for vintage junior high school tee-shirts in thrift stores and scouring their grandparents’ closet for the most socially unacceptable pair of slacks in the world.
Essentially, the philosophy of many UO shoppers is to buy what no-one else likes. Perhaps UO will see a boost in sales for clothing with the least “Likes”? Or maybe this is just a sign of the downfall of authentic hipster style.
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Is #Facebook “Like” the next crowdsourcing tool? New SMI blog post http://tinyurl.com/3xwzox9 #socialmedia #social #smm
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Is the Facebook “Like” the next crowdsourcing tool? | SMI – Featured supplier. Custom Communication Custom Communica… http://ow.ly/18NG2d
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Is the Facebook “Like” the next crowdsourcing tool? – Facebook’s “Like” button is becoming much more than a thumbs-u… http://ow.ly/18NE5k
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#smcorl What do you think? Is the Facebook “Like” the next crowdsourcing tool? | SMI http://ow.ly/2xpgd
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Is the Facebook “Like” the next #crowdsourcing tool? http://ow.ly/2xkZk
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Interesting integration @blurGroup Is the Facebook “Like” the next #crowdsourcing tool? http://ow.ly/2xkZk
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Urban Outfitters and “Like” system – Is the Facebook “Like” the next crowdsourcing tool? http://bit.ly/a3Lqc5
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Is the Facebook “Like” the next crowdsourcing tool?
http://bit.ly/cqGTwV
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Is Facebook “Like” the next social shopping tool? http://bit.ly/bygo2Z
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Do you ‘like’ the ‘like’ button ? http://bit.ly/bs2WDd Like on Facebook ? Alright, like ?
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How #UrbanOutfitters use #Facebook ‘s ‘like’ button as a crowdsourcing tool – http://ow.ly/2xLgS – but will it drive the hipsters away?
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I ‘like’ the way Urban Outfitters is using ‘Like’ in its shopping experience http://is.gd/ePWtx
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Is the Facebook “Like” the next crowdsourcing tool? Urban Outfitters’ shopping experience just got more social: http://ow.ly/1qOP8n
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#Facebook as a crowdsourcing tool. A case study from Urban Outfitters. http://ow.ly/2ym0x
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