Fossil brings promotions to life on Instagram

When it comes to reaching today’s consumers, Richardson, Texas-based vertical specialty apparel/accessories retailer Fossil Group Inc. is not living in the past.



“We are focusing on image creation for our social promotions,” said Jencey Keeton, marketing manager, digital branding and global marketing for Fossil, during an interview with Chain Store Age. “Images are now the way consumers are speaking. To be relevant, social platforms must include images.”



Fossil, which sells products through more than 350 branded stores as well as an e-commerce site and via partnerships with other retailers, has been using the visually focused social media platform Instagram to drive digital traffic and sales since June. Utilizing solutions from visual marketing platform provider Curalate, Fossil has been able to improve consumer awareness of its products, as well as sales conversions.



Using the Curalate Fanreel user-generated content solution, Fossil lets consumers upload product photos and create posts about Fossil merchandise on its e-commerce site. With Fanreel’s automated permissions functionality, Fossil can select photos and posts it wants to share on Instagram and send consumers a message that lets them give rights with a single click.



Customers who submit photos are credited on Instagram. In addition, leveraging the Curalate Like2Buy social commerce platform, Fossil makes photo galleries shoppable with links that bring consumers back to the Fossil e-commerce site.



“We have had a 20% increase in traffic from Instagram since June,” said Keeton. “Sales from Instagram are substantially higher than from Twitter or Facebook.”



Further enhancing Instagram’s value as a direct sales driver, Fossil uses Like2Buy to generate a non-advertised 25% promotional code that is sent to new Instagram followers and shoppers.



“We surprise and delight customers with a one-to-one message promotional code,” said Keeton. “Our overall conversion is 20% - not just online, but in-store as well.”



Fossil uses its CRM system from NGame to match promotional codes to the individual customers who redeem them.



In 2016, Fossil plans to roll out the Curalate Reveal solution, which allows customers to make purchases directly from images in social posts. It’s all part of Fossil’s broader strategy of obtaining the full benefit of social interaction with consumers.



“We need to continue progressing with engagement and be proactive,” stated Keeton. “Customers who engage on social media spend four times as much over their lifetime as customers who do not engage on social media.”