Ahead of London Fashion Week (LFW), research by digital marketing company, Rakuten Marketing, reveals the digital power channels and celebrity influencers driving female shoppers’ fashion purchases.
In recent years, the FROW (Fashion Front Row) has increasingly been frequented by bloggers and vloggers as well as headliners such as Suki Waterhouse, Cara and Poppy Delevingne. However, Rakuten Marketing’s research shows that Kate Middleton is considered the most influential celebrity on fashion trends in the UK, with 29% of the vote. Kate is the celebrity most likely to drive female shoppers to a purchase showing that there is definitely a place for royalty on the FROW.
Amongst the 16-24 age group, both Rita Ora and Zoella are twice as influential on fashion as they are amongst other age groups. Prime Minister Theresa May came bottom of the list, despite reports in the media on her preference for labels including Amanda Wakeley, and her signature L.K Bennett leopard print shoes.
McQueen, Westwood… Zuckerberg?
Whilst LFW is all about the renowned designers on the catwalk, 26% of female shoppers admit that they are actually most likely to be led to a purchase because of a fashion trend they have seen on social media. Facebook is the most popular site for inspiration with a fifth of female shoppers looking there. This rises to a third amongst 25-34 year old women.
One in ten women now say that they are most influenced by the fashions of social media personalities across Snapchat, Instagram and blogs. Instagram influences the 16-24 year old age bracket the most, with 31% of women this age looking here for new outfits to buy. Snapchat is twice as influential amongst the 16-24 age bracket compared to the overall sample, showing the importance of these formats for retailers to connect with younger customers.
Magazines & TV still mean business
Recent LFW events have seen a growing appetite among top labels for big digital campaigns, with runways events being shown in real-time on Instagram and Periscope.
However, the findings show that it’s crucial for retailers to have a multichannel marketing strategy as the role of traditional fashion magazines is reaffirmed as the most influential medium for female shoppers; a third scrutinise the celebrity pages for shopping ideas. Twenty-three per cent of female shoppers are most likely to look for fashion inspiration from blogs and vlogs by fashion enthusiasts or brands though, showing the need for brands to devise strategies with new publisher formats to engage shoppers.
Product placement across broadcast media also remains an important consideration for brands. Over a quarter (27%) of female shoppers get inspiration from TV programmes, although celebrities in film are the most influential category of celebrity, surpassing TV stars by 8%.
Nick Fletcher, director of multichannel at Rakuten Marketing, said: “Our findings illustrate the added value third party influencers can bring to customer relationships. Alongside celebrity icons like Kate Middleton, bloggers and vloggers have become go to personalities for fashion inspiration so there is huge opportunity for retail brands to grow their customer base through their audiences. It’s critical that during LFW retailers are thinking about how consumers shop for clothes the rest of the year; our data shows that the customer journey is led by social media inspiration so affiliate relationships with these leaders in fashion can instigate sales.”
Fletcher added: “It’s important to take a multichannel approach though, our data shows the influence of both traditional and new digital media formats. For instance, TV advertising can be effective if paired with more targeted engagement through programmatic across other channels, particularly search and social. Whilst shoppers are getting inspiration from one advertising medium, brands will find that they engage with them on numerous channels before they convert to a purchase.”
By Jonathan Davies, editor, Digital Marketing Magazine
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