Back in May 2008 we could welcome our first e-commerce partner which decided to implement the Twingly Blogstream solution: Lindex, one of Sweden’s most well known fashion chains. Almost 3 years ago social media hasn’t been as ubiquitous as it is now, so taking this step and connecting an online store with the blogosphere deserved a lot of respect. Now of course, things have changed, and a host of other online shops and e-commerce sites use Twingly. That makes Lindex a real early adopter. Anders Dahlberg holds the position of Director of E-commerce at Lindex and was the one making the Twingly integration possible:
Hi Anders. Do you remember how you got in touch with Twingly?
I think it was an article on TechCrunch which made me aware of your service. They wrote about a solution for news sites but I figured that this would even work for an e-commerce platform. That’s why I called you, and after some exchange we implemented the Twingly Blogstream widget which we are still using today.
How exactly did you embed the widget?
We have it on each product site. If a blog links to a product page we automatically link back to the blog through Twingly. By doing that our visitors receive additional information regarding our products, and we send traffic to those linking to us.
What are your thoughts on the current state of social media?
Well, I think it’s getting harder for small blogs to be visible, while the bigger blogs maintain their reach. Those who only want to inform their closer friends might quit blogging and “move” their thoughts over to Facebook. Facebook is getting more important each and every day. Just look at the new comment system for third party sites which is pretty exciting, since it might help to increase incoming traffic from Facebook to external sites, like blogs.
How important are fashion blogs for Lindex? How do they impact sales?
Fashion blogs are as important as the traditional media. We work with them in the same way as e.g. with magazines – we invite bloggers to press events, maintain a dialog in our showroom and help out with answers and questions.
Which upcoming e-commerce trends do you see?
From a Swedish point of view expansion into foreign European markets will be one main theme for the near future, in order to reach new customers. Apart from that an overall trend is to become more effective in working with existing clients through service and inspiration. It’s very powerful if your existing customers are happy with your store and tell their friends about it.
What’s Lindex vision for the online store?
At Lindex everything is about fashion and inspiration. We want to inspire people to live a beautiful and happy life. We aim at making people curious with our commercials, which lead them to our site. They decide to buy something either online or in one of our physical stores in order to to feel beautiful and happy and to tell their friends about it. Having a successful multi-channel strategy in place is important, which is why our site has a high priority for getting in touch with our customers.