Site of Note: Levi's Online Store
by Marius Nel on 2010/06/01
It isn’t often that an online store gets featured in our illustrious “site of note” series. The simple reason for this is that most online stores are mind-numbingly boring. If you have seen one, then you have seen them all. The grid-based layout of product thumbnails and short descriptions, the add-to-basket buttons, the cart-summary in the sidebar, the customer reviews, etc. You can’t really blame the developers of ecommerce platforms for their lack of creativity in the presentation of product catalogues. The main aim here is to foster trust and to simplify the process of placing orders for products as much as possible. Not the easiest task in the digital realm, I can assure you. Therefore it is a welcome breath of fresh air when someone breaks the mold with a new approach to online shopping. Levi's has created a lot of chatter with their new “Friends Store” and how they have integrated the newly launched Facebook "like" functionality into their online shopping experience.
I’m sure everyone is familiar with the ubiquitous Facebook “like” button as it has been used extensively on Facebook pages for the past few years. Facebook has now managed to unleash this little “like” button on the rest of the Web as part of their Social Web campaign where they are challenging Google’s supremacy in the way that we find things on the Web. In Facebook’s Social Web, users will turn to their social connections to figure out where to shop, what to watch and where to travel. The building blocks to this social Web are Facebook’s new Open Graph and Social Plugins, which include new “like” buttons everywhere on sites outside Facebook.com, auto-login capabilities for those sites without clicking on Facebook Connect, and even a Facebook social bar which includes several of these plugins plus Facebook chat.
Levi's has been quick to embrace this new Social Web by integrating Facebook’s newly launched “like” plugin with their ecommerce site, effectively creating a social shopping experience. Each product is paired with a “like” button, allowing views of who on Facebook likes the item, along with their profile photos. Taking the Facebook Connect integration one step further, the brand built a “Friend Store”, where shoppers who are logged into Facebook can see a list of their friends’ favourite Levi’s products, seamlessly shop with their friends and share your online shopping decisions.
When you go to the Levi's online store, you are presented with a selection of clothing items that everyone likes. You are also presented with a selection of items that were recently liked.
A quick inspection of the recently liked items revealed that our own Miss Manners has recently like a pair of Levi's' “skinniest” jeans.
A recommendation from a friend makes Marius feel more at home when browsing the Levi's online store.
Megan O'Connor, Director of Digital and Social Marketing at Levi's says, "We really wanted to put [the "like" button] as high up in the shopping path as possible. We feel it's going to revolutionise the way people shop for jeans online. Everything from knowing other users' expressed preferences, to our brand ambassadors telling their friends through the "like" functionality that these are their favourite jeans."
I must admit that seeing a friend's face next to a product definitely helps you feel more at home when doing online shopping.
Of course the real benefit of integrating the “like” button is that every time someone clicks on this button a notification is placed on that person’s Facebook profile, effectively notifying all his/her friends of his latest like. Simple and effective eMarketing is now just a click of the “like” button away.
When you choose to inspect a pair of jeans, Levi's presents you with a very generous product page. Generous in terms of the multiple views you are offered of the item, coupled with a nifty zooming feature that allows you to inspect the item in greater detail.
The zoom functionality of the online store allows you to inspect the items of clothing closely.
Next to the product image you find all the important product details like the name, price, shipping details, average customer rating and of course the number of Facebook likes.
They also offer you a tabbed panel that includes related items and a “complete the look” section where you are presented with items that will compliment your current choice.
Complete your look by choosing from a selection of Levi's denim jackets.
Finally, to persuade even the most stoic shopper, a customer review and ratings section allows you to read what previous customers have to say about the particular product.
All in all I think Levi's has created a very enjoyable online shopping experience, their overall design is just edgy enough to support their brand without being over the top, and their focus on the new “social shopping” goes a long way in fostering that vital trust element that helps to get people over that final hurdle when it comes to online shopping. Check it out at http://store.levi.com.
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