TechStyle Fashion Group, along with their flagship brand JustFab, boasts over 5 million VIP members and over 25 million social media fans, in 12 countries. With an in-house design team and stylists, JustFab has made itself a destination for these fans, where they can shop for deals, or consider an entire curated ensemble among the hundreds of outfits featured under the site’s “Looks” section.
The seasonal designs and flash sales ensure that each customer who checks in with JustFab gets a fresh experience, but the fashion eTailer also stays in contact through emails, onsite personalization and related strategies developed in concert between the brand’s marketing team and marketing automation specialists Sailthru.
JustFab’s CRM Manager, Erin Vitero, and VP of Marketing Monica Deretich, sat down with me to run through the stages of personalization that keep customers returning to the site while upping their spend.
According to Vitero, new visitors are given the option to take a Style Quiz. “This shows that from the get-go, we care,” she stated. “From there, our message depends on what type of member you are.” The JustFab community is a tiered points-based loyalty program that offers VIPs early access to sales, as well as to brand events. The two-way conversation enables JustFab to act on customer feedback.
“We run quarterly ‘Meet The VIP’ events where employees across all departments are able to meet with VIP members to gather their opinions and discuss potential improvements,” Vitero explained. She added that a particularly significant case-in-point in the brand’s history was the addition of a wider selection of sizes. “Through these events, we heard a lot of feedback from our customers about having more plus size options. As a result, in September 2016 we launched clothing in a full-size range XS-3X.”
In developing this dialogue with fans, Monica Deretich said that JustFab’s “goal was to be at the forefront of personalization.” Though the brand had been working with Sailthru since 2014 (JustFab launched in 2010), the partnership deployed a series of tests in the last year, especially in spring 2018. “We feel in a really good place with email, and one-to-one through other channels,” Deretich concluded.
In emails to customers, JustFab personalized subject lines, as well as in-body product recommendations. For subject lines, a control email might just mention a new print that JustFab is promoting. For the personalization test, the subject line would include a kind of item in that print that the customer has showed interest in on previous occasions. Instead of just leopard prints, for instance, the customer would receive an email advertising bags or heeled shoes in that print. Results of this test showed nearly ten percent lift in conversions-per-click and 19 percent lift in RPM revenue generated by clicks.
Another significant breakthrough in personalization came with the inclusion of “abandoned cart” items in emails. This was one of the brand’s “biggest opportunities,” Vitero said. In the email header, customers were reminded with a simple personalized icon, updated with the number of abandoned items they had shown intent to buy. This simple icon generated 19 percent revenue lift.
“One of the results of our personalization efforts was that we were able to increase our customer’s average order value, meaning we were able to show her more relevant products that she was more likely to add to cart,” Deretich explained. “Average order value is an important metric for JustFab and key performance indicator that we monitor. When we see that it’s increased, we know [the customer] is engaged with our product assortment. By increasing her average order value, we are able to stretch her spend.”
Seasonal sale promotions will get shoppers spending more, but JustFab discovered that personalization shouldn’t be forgotten during a major promotion. For Black Friday, JustFab used a control message that communicated a 50 percent discount on new arrivals. In the test email, they offered 50 percent off of one or more items that were already sitting in the customer’s cart. The personalized test strategy resulted in 57 percent revenue lift, in terms of clicks and purchases.
Next up for JustFab is boot season, for which they plan to collaborate with a partner that will be named soon. During last year’s boot season, JustFab collaborated with Jessie James Decker, who sold out every design she wore for the promotion.
Regardless of what hot trend or yearly tradition JustFab’s designers are following, their marketing team will be sure to save a free spot in their emails, and on their website, for the individual customer’s interests and intentions.
