Shoppable user-generated content (UGC) is essential for any modern eCommerce homepage. UGC generates trust, helps drive organic product discovery, and helps brands keep their homepages up to date. By using UGC, online retailers can reduce bounce rates and improve their overall performance. Here are five of the best examples of homepages using UGC to great effect.
1. Old Navy
Old Navy's homepage invites customers to #sayhi on Instagram. The homepage features a gallery of the best images uploaded by Instagram Old Navy fans, as well as an upload tool that users can use to upload their own pictures from their computer, mobile device, or Instagram account. This friendly campaign encourages users to connect with the brand on Instagram, which provides a way for the brand to stay in touch with its target audience. In addition, the user-generated content gallery shows real people enjoying Old Navy clothing in their everyday lives, which can a brand to seem more relevant to shoppers.
2. Charlotte Russe
Clothing brands are some of the most notable beneficiaries of user-generated content. The Charlotte Russe homepage invites shoppers to click through to a social gallery of "people, places, and things" that inspire the brand. Some of the hottest user-generated images from this gallery appear on the homepage, placing the customer in the role of style icon.
3. Under Armour
Under Armour is another brand that utilizes the power of Instagram to showcase its customers' style and flair. From active women to golf enthusiasts, each Under Armour demographic is celebrated with its own gallery of pictures. These homepage galleries link to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Tumblr, allowing users to connect with the brand on the social media platform of their choice.
4. Fjällräven
Fjällräven invites customers to "connect to adventure." Visitors to this outdoor clothing brand's homepage can add their own photos or browse images of other customers enjoying their own adventures on Instagram. The exciting user-generated content gallery on this homepage is powered by Pixlee [now Emplifi], which specializes in helping brands use photos and videos from real people to tell an authentic brand story. Pixlee technology makes it easy for brands to showcase user-generated images on their websites, encouraging a stronger connection with site visitors.
5. Levi's
As a brand with a long history, Levi's has had to move with the times in order to continue to dominate the denim industry. Visitors to the Levi's homepage today will see a gallery of images contributed by fans of Levi's jeans and clothing. Powered by Pixlee, this fun and friendly gallery gives a more rounded and diverse image of the global brand than any amount of brand-generated content could ever provide.
Is UGC the future of marketing?
As social media turns ordinary people into publishers and curators, the sharp boundary between brands and their customers is beginning to break down. With young people today uploading millions of photos to Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest and other visual social platforms, it makes sense for brands to leverage this content to showcase their products and build stronger connections with their fans. Thanks to the development of tools that can automatically seek out and display tagged photos, using UGC on a homepage does not have to eat into a brand's budget or available time.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published on pixlee.com. Any statistics or statements included in this article were current at the time of original publication.
