The online retail industry is growing, and social media is proving to be vital in generating awareness and giving companies an opportunity to increase revenue. With overwhelming competition in the retail sector, companies are trying to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Companies can start forming a competitive differentiation with a well thought-out online retail marketing strategy.

Online retail brands have been moving towards subscription services to boost awareness and likability. Subscription services like Fabletics have proved to tailor the user experience, help customers stay on trend, and cut through the clutter crowding the heavily saturated industry.

Fabletics History

Kate Hudson, co-founder of the popular athleisure brand, Fabletics, started out as an American actress and later started pursuing a business career. Her desire for motivating women to lead active lifestyles led her to be the co-founder of Fabletics and the prominent face behind the brand. Don Ressler and Adam Goldenberg are the other co-founders of Fabletics and are the CEOs behind JustFab, a TechStyle Fashion Group online shopping company.

After launching in July 2013, Fabletics began to fill the gaps between luxury brands, quality, style, and price. They became one of the only athletic brands that offered trendy, quality clothes that most people could routinely afford.

Fabletics pulled in $150 million in revenue in 2015 which came from its e-commerce operation. This success was primarily possible due to their online retail marketing strategy and having Kate Hudson as a co-founder and face of the brand.

Strategy #1: Influencer Marketing

Kate Hudson had a large following before launching Fabletics due to being a famous actress. Her fans followed her when she launched Fabletics which brought a lot of awareness and interest to the brand. This is a perfect example of influencer marketing, which is continuing to play an essential role in their online retail marketing strategy. Fabletics continues to use celebrities with a large following to collaborate and promote their brand by working with Demi Lovato, a singer, songwriter, and actress.

Strategy #2: Leverage Customer Reviews

In addition to working with influencers, Fabletics embraces customer reviews and improves customer loyalty by having testimonials on their website. Their online retail marketing strategies are working! An increase of 35% revenue every year since its launch in 2013 makes them a brand that knows how to adapt to customers’ needs. Fabletics has also increased customer retention by using data technology to track customers and their experience. This data collected provides them with insights on their customers which results in more effective targeting techniques.

Your company can also use customer reviews to give other customers a better idea of the products or services your brand provides. A current customer’s opinion is precious to a potential customer.

Strategy #3: Thought-Out Customer Journey

Create content that resonates with your target audience. Use social media as a tool to reach them and introduce your products to stay relevant in their mind. Customization is key to a successful online retail strategy. Using data science and customer insights, Fabletics and your company can track what customers are frequently purchasing and recommend individual items to your customers. The following pictures are how Fabletics tailors their recommended items to the customer’s needs and body type.

Strategy #4: Exploit Social Channels

Make navigating your website and social channels a seamless process for your customers. Make sure you update and stay on brand with your social media channels and share different content on each platform. No one wants to follow a brand on multiple platforms if they are sharing the same posts across the board.

Social listening gives companies like Fabletics an advantage over the competition. It allows them to hone in on their target audience and create techniques their audience will respond to.

If you want to learn more about how social listening platforms and retail analytics software can fuel your retail marketing strategy, download our guide: Social Intelligence for Influencer Marketing.