Lulu Guinness launches on-site social commerce as UGC importance rises

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
May 22, 2019

Handbags and accessories specialist Lulu Guinness is launching on-site social commerce “to create a more engaging customer experience” with content tagged #HowDoYouLulu from Instagram being tracked down automatically at speed and displayed on the brand’s website.

The company has been working with social commerce technology specialist Curalate on the project. The aim is to bring user generated content in a shoppable format onto its site as consumers become increasingly willing to shop via social channels and demand a more seamless process when doing so.

“Social commerce is set to be an integral part of our e-commerce business,” Lulu Guinness’s head of e-commerce Tayyaba Malik said. “Customers often browse on social before making a purchase, so bringing this content on-site - and making it shoppable - will resonate well with them.”

The tech means that customers can click on intelligent images in the galleries on Lulu Guinness’s home and Instagram Shop pages to ‘shop the look’.

Apu Gupta, CEO of Curalate, said: “Showcasing shoppable real-life images of its designs on-site will extend the discovery phase of a shopper’s journey that starts on social media, encouraging an increase in dwell time and conversions.”

The company has been working with a large number of brands in recent years as more and more labels see social commerce as a crucial sales driver and a way to reach consumers where they spend much of their time (ie, on social media). And that’s happening across the price scale. Curalate has worked with QVC, Arcadia, Karl Lagerfeld, Louis Vuitton and River Island, among others.