Due to mandated business closures amid the coronavirus pandemic, retailers are leveraging social commerce to reach consumers stuck at home. Levi’s is one of those brands—with its physical stores temporarily shuttered, it recently utilized TikTok’s “Shop Now” program to connect with Gen Z shoppers via TikTok influencers.
Calling on its Future Finish 3-D denim customization technology, Levi’s enlisted four TikTok influencers to personalize their denim before the coronavirus outbreak. Appearing as in-feed ads, the creators’ videos were posted during the week of April 13. TikTok users had until April 19 to click on the ads’ “Shop Now” button, which would direct them to a page on Levi.com where they could buy the designs shown in the video.
In a company post, Levi’s reported that watch time for these influencer videos is twice as long as the platform average on TikTok. Product views to Levi.com’s “Future Finish” pages have also more than doubled for every product included in the videos, according to the same post.
It helps that Levi’s tapped mega TikTok influencers–selected for the activation were TikTok influencers Callen Schaub, who has 3.6 million followers; Gabby Morrison, who has 2.6 million followers; Cosette, who has 1.9 million followers; and Everett Williams, who has 109,000 followers. Cosette captioned her video, “Designed my own @levis shorts at #LeviHausMiami last month,” with the hashtags #oddlysatisfying and #ad.
Levi’s digital business now accounts for over 15 percent of its total revenue, double what it was three years ago. This dramatic growth is due in large part to Levi’s efforts to increase its social media visibility and user experience over the last few years. In October 2018, Levi’s announced a partnership with Pinterest on a tool that offered Pinners a customized styling experience based on a visual questionnaire and their personal Pinterest activity. Pinners were then presented with a shoppable Levi’s Pinterest board.
In June 2019, Levi’s and Snapchat partnered for Pride Month on a Pride Lens that let users virtually try on clothes. In-store shoppers could unlock the lens when they scanned the QR code posted within US Levi’s stores. Through the lens, Snapchatters could not only try on a Trucker jacket but also customize it with Pride patches and order it through the Snapchat app.
