Specialty apparel retailer Buckle Inc.’s Buckle.com reports that communication with its 12-24-year-old customers is helping to drive traffic as well as keep the retailer in tune with the latest fashions. “The younger consumer is very savvy,” says Lydia Pierson, director of e-commerce.
Among Buckle.com’s more effective means of communicating with the young men and women and teens that frequent its site is through a TrendWatch program, which invites them to write online commentaries about emerging fashions. It‘s both fun and serious business, Pierson says. The young shoppers make up a playful name to identify themselves, and if Buckle has a product that fits their predicted trend, it will display it alongside the commentary posted on Buckle.com.
“It’s a great way for guests to interact with us, and it’s a great way for us to learn about trends,” Pierson says.
Buckle.com also looks for ideas in a steady stream of customer e-mail messages. For example, Pierson says, it recently acted on a customer’s suggestion to enable shoppers to e-mail to their friends links to images of products on Buckle.com.
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