Social and vlogs inspire fashion purchases, but glossy mags still rule

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Despite the increasing trend among big fashion labels to roll out big digital campaigns, and even broadcast in real-time on Instagram and Periscope, traditional, printed fashion magazines continue to be the most influential medium, found Rakuten.

However, fashion brands and retailers need to adopt a multi-channel approach to marketing if they are maximize their reach. Women are turning to a variety of sources to get their fashion inspiration.

Just over a quarter (26%) said they are motivated to make a fashion purchase due to trend they have seen on social media, with Facebook being the most popular site for inspiration. Recent data from Instagram showed that more than one in three Instagram users had purchased a fashion item they discovered via the photo-sharing platform.

Twenty-three of women shoppers said they were most likely to look for fashion inspiration from blogs and video blogs (vlogs) made by either influencers or brands. And that goes for their children’s clothes, too. Earlier this year, Rakuten released research showing that almost a third (30%) of the 2,000 UK parents with children under the age of 12 they surveyed were willing to spend more on clothing for their child if it had been endorsed by an online influencer such as a blogger, vlogger, or Instagrammer. In fact, nearly a quarter (23%) said they trust such online influencers most highly.

“Alongside celebrity icons like Kate Middleton, bloggers and vloggers have become go to personalities for fashion inspiration so there is huge opportunity for retail brands to grow their customer base through their audiences,” said Nick Fletcher, director of multichannel at Rakuten Marketing. “It’s critical that during LFW [London Fashion Week] retailers are thinking about how consumers shop for clothes the rest of the year; our data shows that the customer journey is led by social media inspiration so affiliate relationships with these leaders in fashion can instigate sales.”

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Kristina Knight-1
Kristina Knight, Journalist , BA
Content Writer & Editor
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Kristina Knight is a freelance writer with more than 15 years of experience writing on varied topics. Kristina’s focus for the past 10 years has been the small business, online marketing, and banking sectors, however, she keeps things interesting by writing about her experiences as an adoptive mom, parenting, and education issues. Kristina’s work has appeared with BizReport.com, NBC News, Soaps.com, DisasterNewsNetwork, and many more publications.