How Adidas used authentic consumer reviews to reduce returns

A case study about consumer-generated content in the fashion & apparel industry

2

SKU

75

Authentic Online reviews

123

Average Word Count

The problem with shopping online for clothing

Although online sales are going strong at Adidas, return rates still increase every year and far exceed those in brick-and-mortar stores. From all product categories, fashion not only has the highest return rate, but also the highest rate of “intentional returns”—returns from shoppers who intentionally order duplicate items to compare against.

One of the biggest challenges online shoppers face is that it’s often hard to be sure of a product’s exact size, quality of material and fit. Shoppers prefer to try on, touch and feel clothes in person, so it’s no surprise that returns are common when clothes don’t feel or fit as expected.

Unfortunately, handling high volumes of returns is expensive and a significant undertaking for retailers. So when Adidas was about to introduce their two latest products, they wanted to focus their marketing efforts on helping their customers make the right purchase the first time to reduce returns.

How reviews help customers make the right purchase the first time

So how to make sure that consumers actually buy what they think they’re buying? That’s where customer reviews come into play. While the product information provided by a retailer certainly has its place, this deeper level of feedback will help consumers make more confident purchase decisions and be less likely to return the items they purchase.

There’s only one problem: in an industry where the review-to-sale ratio equals 1:100, it can take weeks, even months, to have a decent number of detailed consumer reviews on your product page. That’s why Adidas decided to actively solicit for reviews and start working with Stars and Stories.

“THE REVIEWERS POSTED VALUABLE FEEDBACK AND PRODUCT INFORMATION ON OUR WEBSITE WHICH LED TO 43 SECONDS EXTRA PAGE VIEW TIME PER VISITOR.”

The Adidas objective

Adidas briefed us to collect 75 authentic consumer reviews from four European countries, about their latest models: the EQT Bold 2.0 Track Jacket and the EQT Hoodie.

The reviews had to be live on the Adidas webshop, prior to the launch date, and should specifically focus on size and fit. Did it match their usual clothing size? How would they advise others in picking the right size in relation to their usual size?

Having this valuable insight information online from day one is incredibly important since sales in fashion are moving fast and before you know it, consumers are on to the next item. We had to find motivated people that wanted to test and review the items, and we needed them fast.

The campaign results

Our stars

The advantage of having an international reviewers’ community of highly motivated product lovers, is that we always find the right people to test any kind of product. And we find them fast.

In the week following the briefing, we activated 75 motivated people from our community, that resonated with the Adidas target group, to test and try the latest Adidas items. The week after, all samples were delivered to their doorstep, in Brittain, France, Germany, and The Netherlands, ready to be tested.

Their stories

After two weeks of trying out the new items, people started sharing their stories online. The reviews were spot on: honest, concise, and focused on all the right aspects, providing consumers with the valuable feedback that they need.

The jacket was praised for the quality of the materials, from elastic fabric to thermal features. The hoodie, as it turned out, had a loose fit so most people suggested in their reviews to go a size smaller. Now online customers could pick the right size from the beginning!