Canadian Retailer - Fall 2015 - 17

recent research, compiled by Consultant Ed
Strapagiel, shows the underlying 12-month retail
sales trend in Canada has been climbing steadily for the last two years (when gas stations are
left out). The three-month trend has softened
slightly, but is still running well above the average for recent years. On a year-to-date basis for
the first half of 2015, Canadian retail sales were
up five per cent, the best H1 result since 2010.
On the flip side, the Q2 2015 year-over-year
gain was 4.7 per cent, which is less than the
previous three quarters. "While things are still
good, the pace of retail sales gains could now
be cooling off," Strapagiel says. "Up-cycles
don't last forever."
With this ever-changing, unpredictable landscape, what are retailers to do to stay competitive? One way to squeeze out every last sale is
to put more focus on their e-commerce business
by using social media to help drive incremental
sales. Just ask Michelle Germain, owner/curator of Shopgirls.

then tagged depending on which body it would work with," Germain explains. "Online shopping drives people into our shop,
but we also have a lot of customers from the U.S. and other countries. And for them you want to take the guesswork out of being
able to buy clothing online. As we narrow down their choices, we
try to make it as easy as possible for them to decide."
Germain says this strategy drives sales because it establishes
an emotional connection with customers. "That is not always
easy to do when you do it virally," she says. "We try to mirror
the experience in the bricks-and-mortar into the online shop; obviously as much as we can offer the one-on-one in-store, on the
online shop we have lots of options for people to ask questions
and make sure we get the right item for them. In the long run,
this strategy equals less returns and more happy customers."
facebook's news feed: a new tool to engage customers

Social media is now a critical part of the purchase process, influencing sales in-store and online. "Facebook now drives more traffic to websites than search engines, a healthy part of the purchase
funnel," says Bianca Freedman, director, digital team at Edelman
Toronto. "It also reaches people traditional channels may not have
reached, offering unprecedented access to retail sites."
According to Josh Bloom, head of
retail, Facebook Canada, there has
"We know that the best stories from advertisers are the ones
been an evolution of storytelling on
that are told in the same way people prefer to create and
the popular social media platform toconsume content. Our teams are working with businesses like
wards more visual content, especially
SportChek to understand and care about people's behaviour, so with videos as an integrated part of
marketing strategies.
the advertising in the newsfeed is consistent with how people
"We know that the best stories from
create and consume content from their friends and family."
advertisers are the ones that are told
- Josh BLoom, Facebook Canada in the same way people prefer to create and consume content," Bloom exgrowing the social brand
plains. "Our teams are working with businesses like SportChek
Shopgirls, which opened in 2007, is a Toronto- to understand and care about people's behaviour, so the adverbased gallery boutique that features all-Canadian tising in the newsfeed is consistent with how people create and
artists and designers. Germain has steadily grown consume content from their friends and family."
her online store to complement and enhance her
Bloom cites some of SportChek's recent campaigns as great
bricks-and-mortar presence. For her, having an examples of this strategy.
online presence is all about growing her brand.
With a goal of increasing in-store sales, SportChek turned to
"My focus when it comes to social is to have Facebook video ads to help complement their online flyer dura specific voice for the brand," Germain says. ing their 2014 Black Friday/Cyber Monday and Boxing Day cam"We are very much about being approachable paigns. "The short-format video clips highlighted 'door crasher
and embracing women of all shapes. Positive deals' and leveraged Facebook's interests targeting to ensure the
body image is what we are all about. We have a right product was hitting the right audience's newsfeed," Bloom
campaign-Shop Your Shape-that we continue says. "As a result, the SportChek Black Friday/Cyber Monday
to grow, which teaches women to work with the and Boxing Day campaigns drove a 57 per cent and 69 per cent
attributes that they love about their bodies as higher sell-through rate of items advertised."
opposed to focusing on what they don't like."
Shopgirls uses its online shop to help cus- complementing traditional media
tomers determine their body shape by tagging
SportChek also saw a two-times return on ad spend after reevery single item in its virtual boutique that placing its traditional paper circular with Facebook digital adverwill work for a particular body shape. "On our tising, lifting in-store sales by more than 12 per cent nationally.
website we list six different body shapes and
"SportChek didn't focus on likes, shares or clicks with this
anything that we upload to the online shop is digital campaign," Bloom continues. "Instead, the company set
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