As of this week, Saks has officially expanded its influencer marketing strategy into TikTok. To start, the luxury ecommerce platform has teamed with a mix of five mega- and micro-influencers to showcase party accessories, shoes and loungewear via a branded “shoe flip” challenge.
The brand’s inaugural TikTok features actress Larsen Thompson—who has 1.1 million followers herself—transforming from daywear into an evening gown with the toss of her shoe. Saks also enlisted fashion influencers Everett Williams (259,000 followers), Chanel McKinsie (60,000 followers) and Maddie White (2 million followers) to create their own rendition of the challenge as sponsored posts on their respective TikTok accounts.
Saks’ foray into TikTok comes about a year after it was split off from the Saks Fifth Avenue retail business by parent company Hudson’s Bay Company and venture capital firm Insight Partners in March 2021. The move established Saks’ ecommere unit as a standalone entity known as Saks.
At that time, Saks’ ecommerce business was valued at $2 billion. Since then there’s been discussion of an IPO taking place in the first half of 2022 with a targeted valuation of $6 billion.
After Saks saw a boom in online sales during the pandemic, it closed on a syndicated $350 million, asset-based five-year revolving credit facility and a $115 million senior secured term loan. A portion of the financing is available to Saks for general corporate purposes or growth initiatives.
As it continues growing financially, Saks is bolstering its online presence. In February, it launched a digital-first spring 2022 campaign starring Lupita Nyong’o with unique content across Saks-owned channels and partner platforms. Other campaign elements include interviews and videos on the retailer’s social media channels and main homepage, a dedicated email campaign, an exclusive feature in the Saks editorial hub “The Edit,” a spread in the March issue of Vogue and custom content on harpersbazaar.com.
During the 2021 holiday season, Saks launched live virtual events and shoppable content. The “Saks Live” virtual events platform will also feature lifestyle, shopping and fashion advice from industry influencers as hosts engage with viewers and guide them through their shopping journey.
