INTERVIEW

Easy-to-deploy technology solutions that can generate an immediate increase in online sales are rare, especially when they boast a 95% success rate! Yet this is what Taggstar offers with its social proof solutions, already adopted by brands such as Fabletics, Steve Madden and Debenhams.

In this interview, Marjorie Leonidas, CEO of Taggstar, the leader in Social Proof messaging in eCommerce, presents this technology with proven results.

 WHAT YOU WILL DISCOVER 

Beauty Bay, Steve Madden, Fabletics 

Argos,  Beauty Bay,  Charles Tyrwhitt,  Crew Clothing,  Debenhams,  Fabletics, Hugo Boss, JD Group,  Lakeland,  Living Spaces,  M&S,  Michael Kors,  N Brown,  Nobody’s Child, Sainsbury’s PLC,  Sportsshoes.com,  Steve Madden,  The Very Group,  Wickes

INTERVIEW

Laurence Faguer: First of all, what is "social proof" in eCommerce?

 

Marjorie Leonidas : Consumers are strongly influenced by the actions of others. Nothing is more powerful than knowing in real time what other people are buying to encourage customers to discover products and buy with greater confidence.
This is especially true online. Shopping online can be a lonely experience! It's therefore essential for retailers to replicate the in-store shopping experience online.

 

By anonymously aggregating other customers' online behavior, Taggstar's messages share with shoppers what others like them are buying, what's trending, and what's selling fast.
Our algorithms collect real-time shopping data directly from retailer and brand websites. Our messages give shoppers the context and confidence to buy, and they're statistically proven to increase conversion rates.

↓ Examples of social proof ↓

Examples of social proof - Source : Taggstar

 

 

Marjorie Leonidas: The average conversion rate increase is 4%, and we've seen more advanced optimizations as high as 14%. This equates to millions of dollars in revenue for our customers.

↓ Examples of social proof on the Fabletics mobile site ↓

We demonstrate attribution through A/B testing. The effect is immediate, and our clients have the data they need to validate the effectiveness of our solution. 95% of the A/B tests we conduct are successful.
Our technology works - it's scalable and reliable, even during peak periods like Black Friday.

 

 

It takes a month for large retailers with a high volume of traffic/visitors to their site and sometimes 3 to 4 months for those with less traffic before obtaining a statistically significant result. We are currently implementing Bayesian A/B testing to help smaller specialty retailers achieve results more quickly.
We are A/B testing agnostic—if customers prefer to use their own testing platforms, that's perfectly fine. However, we also offer our own built-in A/B testing capabilities.

 

 

First, SEO is very expensive: organic results struggle to emerge compared to sponsored ads that are visible first to buyers.

 

Additionally—and this is now a cliché—the product detail page (PDP) has become the new homepage. Consumers often come to an eCommerce site  from search engines, social media or an AI agent, click directly on a product presented by an influencer or an advertisement, and go directly to the PDP. If they are not convinced, they immediately return to their feed or search results.

 

Brands have very little time to capture their attention.

 

So your PDP should be fully optimised, with great product images, compelling descriptions, social proof such as popularity and trends, and good customer reviews. 

 

 

I'm a results-driven entrepreneur! There are many technologies that send people to your website (retargeting, ads), but they don't necessarily convert them. What I love about Taggstar is how quickly we deliver tangible results for our clients.

 

I started my career in retail, running a clothing manufacturing agency in Hong Kong, before moving into technology. I joined BT to help lead its Wi-Fi business in the UK.

 

In 2014, social proof wasn't used in retail, with the exception of Booking.com, which displayed the number of rooms or flights remaining. This was clearly very effective.

 

We were fortunate to work with two major British brands, Argos and The Very Group (formerly Shop Direct), from the very beginning. Over a decade later, The Very Group is still a customer of ours.

 

 

Our Social Proof works for everything from eyeshadow to lawnmowers, dresses, wine bottles, and everything in between.
And it works equally well for men and women, and for all ages.

During our panel session at NRF in January in New York, Dan Finley, CEO of Boohoo Group, shared that he initially saw social proof as a tool for younger shoppers, based on his success with 16-24 year-olds in the sneaker sector for JD Sports. But as CEO of Debenhams, which has an older customer base (50-55), he saw a rapid and significant increase in conversion after testing it. The rollout took just 24 hours and was profitable within 10 days, in both men and women’s product categories. Social proof is very important to them.

 

 

Have you noticed that in a store, you look at a piece of clothing on a hanger and people immediately want what you have? It's a natural instinct. In 1984, Dr. Robert Cialdini, an American behavioural psychologist, defined the seven principles of influence, including " we are influenced by the people we trust " and " we are influenced by what others do ." Social proof is a powerful principle in this behavioural science.

 

 

I was surprised to see that even ALDI is using social proof - and with an impressive 9.27% ​​increase in conversion rate!
With ALDI, we focused on wines and Specialbuys. They initially approached us with a lot of scepticism, but they became big fans, and we worked with them for six years, until they ceased their eCommerce operations in the UK.
Wine is a perfect category for social proof. Many buyers are unsure what to choose. If you're presented with four different Chablis, you might opt ​​for the most expensive one, thinking it's better—which isn't always true. This is where social proof comes in handy.

 

 

 

The technology is simple and quick to implement—integration is completed within 10 days for most websites. This is one of the main advantages. We handle the heavy lifting: our lightweight JavaScript tag works with existing tag managers, so we don't require a lot of IT resources from our customers. Moreover, the platform operates independently, reducing the need for full adoption by planning or merchandising teams.

 

 

Marjorie Leonidas : It is essential to ensure that the branding, message copy and

placement are appropriate: where do the messages appear, what colour are they, and do they remain visible at all times? The placement varies depending on the product—for example, at Michael Kors, messages for handbags appear above so as not to obscure the product, while for clothing, they are placed at the bottom, near the shoes.

↓ Examples on the Michael Kors website ↓

Source : https://www.michaelkors.com

Marjorie Leonidas : We have over 20 different message types, and our new Product Attribute messages allow retailers to create tags to highlight key product details.
A retailer offering 60 cashmere sweaters might display a thumbnail image like, "25 people just bought this 100% cashmere sweater." In the blink of an eye, this changes the shopper's perception: it's not just a wool sweater, it's cashmere. This attribute justifies a higher price and boosts conversion.

 Source: Taggstar Attribute Messaging  

 

We've been using machine learning for many years and have developed AI capabilities across all our products. AI looks at our historical data and helps us determine which social proof message is most effective for a specific buyer looking at a particular product at each stage of the shopping journey.

 

 

Specifically, do you have any best practices to share on where to place social proof?
 

It depends on where the buyer is in their decision cycle.
On the homepage, they may be in the consideration stage. Messages like "#1 Bestseller," "Top Rated," or "Trending" are important to drive conversion.

Once they reach the product detail page, the shopper becomes more interested in that particular product, and this is where real-time contextual messages become important. Messages like "X people have this product in their cart" or "Y just bought it in the last two hours" or "Z people are interested in this product" (= have it on their wish list), encourage shoppers to buy now or add it to their own wish list before it sells out.

At the cart stage, we can add “Only 2 left” or “4 people are looking at this item right now and only 2 left” to create a sense of urgency.

Source: Taggstar

Marjorie Leonidas : We are always sensitive to how each brand wants to speak to its customers. For example, when we worked with Missguided — a fast-growing international brand whose customers are under 25—we tailored the messaging style to their audience by using messages such as “25 people are looking at this RN” (Right Now).

Others prefer to use icons or animated images that grab attention—and increase conversion rates. JD Sports, for example, uses floating flames on its trendy sneakers.

 

Credit: JD Sports https://www.jdsports.co.uk/product/grey-on-running-cloudswift-4-ad/19681678/          

 

It all starts with understanding each customer’s business model and goals. We have customers that offer credit or subscriptions, like Fabletics. We tailor our messaging to support specific decisions, such as signing up for an activewear programme.

 

The data is real. But don't these messages annoy some consumers? 

Our principle as a company has never been to push people. There is absolutely no way we're going to force people to do something.
So much so that when we first worked with John Lewis, we chose not to enable social proof on maternity products, for fear of putting mothers under pressure. But after the rollout to the rest of the site, mothers wrote to John Lewis asking why it wasn't available on these items too. Instead, they found it useful for seeing what other parents were buying.

 

When we meet with potential customers, we present our product range, how it works, and how it can be implemented. We often include mockups to show exactly how it might look on their own website.

 

At the second meeting, if the customer agrees to share their previous year's data under an NDA, we develop a business case to forecast the potential increase in conversions and sales and estimate the return on investment. This gives potential customers a clear business case from the start of the conversation.

Then we usually do a “proof of concept” – a test that turns into a full contract.
This model has worked very well over the past decade. It is simple, easy to understand, and quick to implement.

 

 

 

After a successful implementation, we don't stop there. Our Customer Success team typically develops a roadmap. We conduct continuous optimisation and A/B testing—for example, different message designs and placements.

I always say we're only as good as our last test. I remember when The Very Group started out, they used to run about 100 tests a month on their website, allowing them to continuously test and learn to optimise and achieve the best results. In one recent test, they added animations, which increased the conversion rate by 1.14% over a 16-day period during the holidays.

 

Laurence Faguer : I've often wondered what's stopping brands from building their own social proof technology instead of relying on an external provider. During Taggstar's panel session at NRF, two executives answered this question. Excerpts:

 

 

Ashley Kechter, at this time Global President of Fabletics, explained that his group is constantly researching new and relevant technology solutions and determining whether an external option was preferable to in-house development. “When we discovered Taggstar, we immediately saw that it met our needs and could be easily integrated into our system. Therefore, there was no need to recreate this solution internally by investing time and money – it was clearly the best option for us.”

 

 

Kim Miller, president of Saks OFF 5TH, was very transparent: Saks OFF 5TH had already developed a similar solution before she arrived, but it required five or six engineers to constantly make changes, and it was abandoned.

Kim Miller: “ What we liked about Taggstar was that it perfectly met our needs: no burden on the engineering team, no slowdown of the site - a key criterion for us - and easy management by the sales team. The overall cost proved to be very cost-effective . ”

 

 

Marjorie Leonidas : Retailers need to ask themselves: Is developing in- house the best way to utilise our team, or should we focus on being retailers and ensuring our platform is stable and secure? Security is a top priority for everyone right now.

 

Furthermore, developing in-house can save on licensing fees, but without constant updates, the product becomes obsolete and your visitors may not even see it anymore. We work closely with our customers on roadmaps, making continuous optimisations. We've been doing this for over a decade and we're so far ahead of everyone else that it would be really difficult for anyone internally to replicate what we've done.

 

 

 

We're developing segmentation. While we don't collect any personally identifiable information—our messages are completely anonymous and presented to an anonymous audience—we offer behind-the-scenes implementation options that allow our clients to manage segmentation themselves. For example, you can highlight a reward for a high-spending visitor approaching VIP status, while showing a different message to a casual visitor.

 

 

Marjorie Leonidas : They can contact me directly by email at: marjorie@taggstar.com

 

Thank you, Marjorie!