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There\u2019s no shortage of competition today in the athleisure sector, and like its counterparts, 12<\/strong>-year-old Fabletics<\/strong> is always looking for an edge. The brand\u2019s first distinguishing mark is its membership model, which sets it apart from Lululemon<\/strong>, Vuori<\/strong>, Alo Yoga<\/strong> and the like. But recently Fabletics has been finding another way to stand out \u2014 leveraging \u201csocial proof\u201d from leading influencers and its own customers.<\/p>\n Social proof is the digital version of, \u201cDon\u2019t believe me, ask [insert authority figure].\u201d At a session during the NRF Big Show, Ken Pilot, Host of The Retail Pilot Podcast, <\/em>pointed to one of the most common examples \u2014 \u201cYou know when you\u2019re on a travel website and they say, \u201834 people are looking at this room and there\u2019s one left\u2019 \u2014 you\u2019ve been \u2018social proofed.\u2019 [It\u2019s about] working with the powers of the crowd to create energy for a call to action<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n Social proof is particularly well-suited to Fabletics, which offers products that are comparable in quality to similar but higher-priced items from other brands. While an in-store shopper can feel the fabric and see the craftsmanship of Fabletics\u2019 athleisurewear, online shoppers (especially first-time purchasers) need validation to trust the product quality without being able to feel it for themselves. Additionally, Fabletics\u2019 membership model provides a wealth of first-party intel, which enables the brand to pinpoint the types of digital messaging most likely to spur a purchase.<\/p>\n The practice of using social proof may have started with the travel sector, but it\u2019s now firmly rooted in all kinds of online commerce and is particularly useful for retailers as consumers\u2019 online shopping habits evolve. <\/p>\n \u201cIn today\u2019s world, customers are going to Google<\/strong> looking for a little black dress. Then they go to the PDP [product detail page], don\u2019t like what they see and they bounce,\u201d explained Marjorie Leonidas, CEO of social proof solution Taggstar. \u201cThe PDP effectively becomes the new home page.<\/strong> Whereas in the old days people would go to Brand.com, now people are looking for a specific item and Google is curating their journey and pushing them down to these particular sites and charging for that. [The result is that] when a customer comes to an ecommerce site, [the brand] has very little time to engage with them and convert them<\/strong>.<\/p>\n \u201cThe big conundrum of the industry right now is, brands are spending a ton of money on digital ads, people come to their site and then they bounce \u2014 bounce rates are like 60% to 80%<\/strong> \u2014\u00a0 so they\u2019re spending a lot of money to get eyeballs that aren\u2019t converting,\u201d Leonidas added in an interview with Retail TouchPoints<\/em>. \u201cHaving this social proof on the PDP [helps brands get] customers to engage with that product, because they can see it\u2019s popular, it\u2019s trending, it\u2019s selling fast<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n For Fabletics, that social proof shows up in a number of distinct ways on its site beyond the tried-and-true customer ratings and reviews. Fabletics is taking it a step further with the integration of customer and influencer videos<\/strong> as well as product-specific FOMO messaging<\/strong> generated by Taggstar across its site.<\/p>\n Fabletics\u2019 Global President Ashley Kechter sat down with Retail TouchPoints<\/em> to share how the brand is evolving its consumer engagement tactics as it looks to fend off the competition and further its growth goals.<\/p>\n Fabletics\u2019 membership model is central to the brand\u2019s value prop, which is the same high-quality product as competitors\u2019 but at a lower price point. Members \u2014 of which there are now well over 2 million<\/strong> \u2014 pay $59.95<\/strong> a month that can be used toward purchases and gains them access to steep discounts of 20% to 50%<\/strong> off the retail price.<\/p>\n Because the brand was built around this online membership concept, it has entered physical retail later than some of its peers, but now Fabletics is on a rapid brick-and-mortar ramp up.<\/strong> Fabletics still does about 80%<\/strong> of its business online, but over the last five<\/strong> years it also has opened approximately 100<\/strong> stores and plans to continue that expansion at a rate of about 20<\/strong> stores a year. \u201cI think we can get to 250<\/strong> very quickly,\u201d said Kechter.<\/p>\n Membership is promoted in Fabletics\u2019 stores, as it is online, with ample signage showcasing \u201cVIP deals\u201d and the dramatically discounted prices available to members, but ultimately Kechter said winning consumers over is all about the product.<\/p>\n \u201cWe offer incredible quality at a price that no one else is competing with right now,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen people think of Fabletics, and they don\u2019t know the brand or haven\u2019t experienced our product, the assumption is that the discount means it\u2019s not great quality, which is why [physical] retail is so imperative.<\/strong> The reality is we go head-to-head with our competitors in quality \u2014 we are sourcing in a lot of the same factories \u2014 but we are able to offer a great value because of membership. That\u2019s what membership unlocks \u2014 we don\u2019t have to sacrifice on quality to get the cost where we need it.<\/strong> We have massive scale because of the membership model, and that\u2019s recurring revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n The sticking point is getting people to try the product so they can see for themselves, which is where the stores come in. But online, where customers can\u2019t physically experience the product, is more complicated. To solve for that Fabletics has turned to social proof.<\/p>\n To prove its product quality to online shoppers, Fabletics has dramatically expanded its usage of video testimonials and demonstrations<\/strong> and integrated social proof messaging<\/strong> across its site.<\/p>\n Videos of both influencers and real customers discussing products can now be found almost everywhere on the Fabletics site, from the homepage to the PDPs. \u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is to get our PDP to feel more authentic, with real people wearing our product in their day-to-day life, as well as influencers,\u201d said Kechter. \u201cSo that can be images of actual people in our product and videos where you can see someone moving in it, someone working out in it, someone comparing our legging to the [Lululemon] Align legging. We are trying to bring a more authentic, true voice of who we are in the form of video<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n Across the site, shoppers also see a range of messages that direct them toward trending products, helping validate their choices and creating FOMO for products that are selling fast or getting low in stock. These take the form of discreet pop-ups on top of product images as well as messaging in the product details or a customer\u2019s cart saying things like \u201cHot Item! 193 sold,\u201d \u201cPopular! 15 others are viewing now!\u201d or \u201c#5 Bestseller!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s lots of flexibility in the messages that we\u2019re putting out there, and that really depends on one, the item, and two, as a membership model, we have a lot of data on our consumers, so we know what our consumer is purchasing,\u201d said Kechter. \u201cWe collect a lot of data as part of our membership program, and that then helps us better inform what type of urgency or FOMO messaging we might want to integrate into that PDP.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n This kind of real-time, data-based messaging is based on the principles of Dr. Robert Cialdini, who has studied the power of the crowd to drive behavior. \u201cWhen you go into a store, you have a shop associate, but online is pretty lonely,\u201d said Leonidas. \u201cSocial proof was born out of that, providing people contextual information in real time based on what other people are doing<\/strong>.\u201d<\/p>\n Taggstar messages draw on real-time and historic customer behavior as well as inventory levels and sales patterns to validate customers\u2019 choices and urge conversion across the online journey.<\/p>\n Fabletics first started working with Taggstar in late 2023, and the company has seen strong results from the beginning of the integration: \u201cWe started testing and immediately we saw huge success \u2014 we got a 3%<\/strong> lift in conversion. After that we were quick to roll it out much more aggressively,\u201d said Kechter.<\/p>\n Taggstar messaging can now be found across the Fabletics site, and Kechter said she also sees the potential for similar kinds of messaging in the company\u2019s growing roster of stores, especially in the fitting rooms, which are all equipped with interactive iPads.<\/strong> Those iPads can be used by customers to request new sizes or styles while in the fitting room, as well as learn more about membership, so it\u2019s not too much of a stretch (pun intended) to imagine additional messaging that shows products that are top sellers or new styles that have proven popular.<\/p>\n \u201cOur founders are highly interested in new digital technology and marketing,\u201d said Kechter. \u201cFrom the launch we\u2019ve brought those two things together through a very robust influencer program, aligning with celebrities to help us [gain consumer] trust. As we\u2019ve expanded over the years, we\u2019ve brought in more digital technology to leverage this content, and what\u2019s great about Taggstar is it\u2019s allowed us to lean into what we were already doing with the FOMO messaging, getting customers to click.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\nFighting High PDP Bounce Rates<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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The Challenge: Turning Skeptics into Believers<\/strong><\/h2>\n
How Fabletics is Proving Itself to Digital Consumers<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Getting Customers to Click<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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