Visual commerce startup Olapic is using selfies to teach brands about customer purchasing habits. This enables retail brands to turn selfies into sales for companies on the cutting edge. By taking selfies customers share on social media and integrating them with a brand's platform, the New York based company is changing the landscape of e-commerce.
For example, a selfie someone takes of themselves in NastyGal clothing could appear on the clothing retailer's site as a 'how others wore it' feature. This also increases user generated content, as customers are encouraged to engage with the brand and participate by sending their photos. This is legal as selfie sharing is voluntary and brands make it clear to customers that their pictures will be used. Olapic also offers analytics services explaining customer purchasing habits for their clients.
Key Themes Behind This Trend
- Visual Commerce
- Retail brands are turning social media selfies into sales by integrating them into their own platforms
- User Generated Content
- Companies are capitalizing on the selfie-sharing trend to encourage customer engagement and increase user generated content
- Customer Insights
- By offering analytics services, startups like Olapic are enabling brands to gain useful insights on customer purchasing habits through their selfies
Where This Applies
- E-commerce
- Visual commerce and user generated content are disrupting the e-commerce industry by changing the way customers interact with online stores
- Marketing
- The use of selfies for visual commerce and user generated content is creating new marketing opportunities for brands to boost engagement and sales
- Analytics
- Startups like Olapic are disrupting the field of analytics by offering insights into customer behavior through their selfie-sharing platform
