Unlike traditional advertising platforms, social media use has brought a new face in many industries. One of the significant effects has been in the fashion industry. The use of social media helped Urban Silks to leverage its interaction with customers, among other benefits.
The Come Up
Urban Silks is a South Asian ethnic clothing retailer based out of Toronto. It was founded by Arjun Mano's dad and mom, who handled the retail operations while Arjun dealt with marketing and e-commerce. Everything began when Mrs. Gowry and her husband decided to turn an opportunity into business. Her husband was a frequent traveler who always returned from India with the most beautiful sarees. These sarees caught Gowy's friends' attention, who admired the style of sarees she wore and wanted their share from this beautiful collection.
Surprisingly, the admiring friends turned out to be their clients. This was because their earlier ways of marketing were mainly through word of mouth.
Going Online
The Covid-19 came without notice. With millions dead and most businesses' doors shut, Urban Silks were also affected. The problem was that most of their products came from India, which was hit hard by the pandemic. The lockdowns that shut down manufacturing in certain parts of India limited how much they could import. In addition, shipping products via Air Cargo became expensive as only a few flights traveled from India. Therefore shipping could mean cutting into their profits.
Due to these challenges, Urban Silks decided to transition online. Amazingly, this move turned out to be a blessing in disguise as they were comfortable with their retail business serving their local community.
Why Social Media Is Important
The use of social media has allowed Urban Silks to reach clients beyond their city. Hence there is a future potential of expanding more. Urban Silks now plans to expand to a bigger space like a warehouse to fulfill orders more thoroughly.
Social media has helped Urban Silks to cultivate its brand image and increase its awareness. They have since been able to develop their image, messaging, and overall communication to their customers. In addition, social media such as Instagram and Pinterest have become platforms where Urban Silks find their inspirations and fashion trends.
Why You Need To Build Your Following
Urban Silks has more than 13,000 Facebook page likes. They use Facebook for their marketing. They take photos of everything they have and put them on Facebook. Though it was much work, it made it easier for the customers to view their selections from the comfort of their homes. It helped customers get what they wanted by simply showing them through their store on their phones. Urban Silks would then show them that product, and they would purchase it.
This move made customers always look forward to their weekly uploads. And if they did not do their weekly updates for any reason, they would be inundated with messages requesting new uploads.
Urban Silks'Facebook page eventually begun growing at an alarming rate. Lucky enough, Urban Silks clients started sharing their albums on their Facebook pages which their friends would see and come to visit their page. They also did some paid online advertising that drove customers to their shop. In doing so, they saved much time to make up their minds about what they wanted to purchase.
Urban Silks have thrived as a result of their online presence. For more information about Urbansilks, check them out at www.urbansilks.com or on Facebook, Instagram, and Tiktok @urbansilks.
