Add Social Proof Messaging Into In-Store Digital Display

Alison Wiltshire

02 May 2019

When we’re trying to explain how social proof works, we often use the example of the “chelfie” – or changing room selfie.

You’ll know what I’m talking about. You’ve probably done it yourself, as both men and women are known to take pictures of themselves while trying on clothes in-stores, and then uploading them to sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

We do this for affirmation of our fashion choices, and will buy (or not) based on the feedback we get from our social followers. So important is the support of our friends, that a 2015 Daily Mail article, based on a survey of 2,000 young people, found that women need an average of three ‘likes’ before they buy items, while men tend to wait for at least four.

We’re much more likely to go ahead and buy if we believe we’re making the right decision.

That’s why we’ve worked with leading retailers to develop Taggstar messaging that support and guide shoppers. Brands tell us that our messages act like a ‘virtual sales assistant’ when customers are online, because we’re able to bring important detail – like popularity, stock volumes, reviews and more – to the surface for each item, giving the shopper extra reasons to buy. Just like the affirmation you’d get from a chelfie.

Displaying this information successfully drives sales, with online conversions spiking for the brands using social proof messaging online.

Imagine how brands could inject the same interactivity into the in-store experience to support shopping, confirm choices and to nudge customers towards the tills. Now they can.

At this week’s Retail Expo in London, we officially launched a partnership with M-Cube Global, leaders in retail digital innovation. Using the same technology that we use to aggregate and display social proof online, we’ve added Taggstar messages into in-store digital experiences. So long chelfies!

This is important because retailers have much to gain from finding new ways to encourage in-store spend. A recent Forbes article reported that consumers spend significantly more per visit in-store than online. Based on a First Insight Report it found that 71 percent of all shoppers surveyed spent $50 or more when shopping in-store. This compares to only 54 percent of respondents spending more than $50 when shopping online.  

Our technology works with M-Cube innovation, by displaying the same rich detail on the screens in the fitting room, or within the store.

Brands can choose exactly what product information they want to display, like the 5-star reviews in the example below. The products displayed can also be chosen by the brand to suit a current campaign or promotional offer.   

With interactivity and personalisation being the retail topics de jour, the optimal experience is for the digital display to recognise the item that the shopper is holding or trying on via its RFID tag, and to show related product information such as “15 people have bought the Annabel dress in the last hour.”

More powerful still, our software can aggregate and display product trends, from every store, anywhere in the world. Imagine being able to display real-time top five best sellers as they happen. Because the crowd follows the crowd, we love to know what other people are buying.

In-store social proof is the latest in a long line of Taggstar omni-channel social proof innovations in the last few months.    

Last week we launched new, personalised messages which let online customers know trends like sales, add-to-basket volumes, views and more since they last visited a page.  We’ve also been shortlisted for a Retail Systems 2019 Award, along with Posterscope, for injecting social proof into out-of-home digital display during Very.co.uk’s Black Friday campaign across 1,400 bus shelters, thus creating a virtual storefront for a pure play retailer. And, we’ve also added Taggstar to MentionMe referral marketing vouchers. All ways to help retailers increase conversions and grow revenue.

To add Taggstar to your shopping experience, talk to us today.

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