Dune has boosted its online sales by deploying user-generated content on its product pages.

The footwear retailer, which poached Ralph Lauren marketing boss Rob Silsbury to take the helm of its marketing and ecommerce division last month, has reported an 82% increase in sales over a two-week period after adding user-generated content to its product pages.

The shoe retailer has partnered with marketing technology company Curalate, which has worked with retailers such as Gap, Nordstrom and Sephora, to integrate customer and blogger content from Instagram and other social platforms on their ecommerce platforms.

User-generated content

Each image is fully shoppable, enabling customers to click on the products and buy them via Dune’s website.

Digital marketing manager Mark Blenkinsop said: “Our customers respond very well to user-generated content – being able to see others wearing our products gives them extra confidence to purchase.

“This is the latest step in a wider strategy to leverage these images as well as our own beautiful lifestyle content across the web and make the products contained within photos and videos fully shoppable. Rather than asking customers to search for what they’ve seen, we’re taking them directly to it.”

Shoppable video promos

Overall, Dune has seen a 28% higher conversion rate among shoppers who engage with user-generated content during their shopping journey, while average order values increased by 17% over three months.

As a result of the success of its shoppable content, the footwear retailer is making upcoming advertising campaign videos fully shoppable for customers watching on mobile devices.