Case Study: Incipio Taps Facebook as a Sales Channel

Incipio has capitalized on the growing trend of people accessing Facebook via their mobile device. The synergy that exists between the brand and its customers and prospects is exemplified on Facebook with an interactive experience. The social network has proven to be a forum for Incipio's fans to ask questions of the brand and each other, recommend products, and voice frustrations, among other things.

Familiarity Yields Seamless Integration
Already Incipio's 
e-commerce platform provider, ShopVisible quickly and easily integrated the retailer onto its social commerce platform, enabling Incipio to put its entire product catalog for sale on Facebook within weeks. Incipio was only responsible for making some minor decisions around how it wanted people to enter its Facebook storefront, what the page flow would look like and how the checkout process would work.

Only seven months into selling on Facebook, Incipio is already making some changes to its social commerce approach. To help keep the look and feel of Facebook, Incipio is showing its products and letting people discuss them. If they're interested in something, they can then go to the product page to make a purchase. Previously consumers were directed straight to a product page.

"We're shifting our strategy a little bit," notes Fathollahi, "from 'OK, this is how you buy product within Facebook' to 'This is how you discuss product within Facebook.' We're focusing on friend/experience, friend/opinion and interactions with people that you may not be friends with but who share that experience about a product. Then there's sort of the 'Oh, by the way, you can buy it, too.'"

The philosophy shift is aiming to improve upon an already successful initiative for Incipio. The retailer has seen increased conversion rates and average order values — and ultimately increased revenues — from consumers originating from or purchasing via Facebook.