In 2010, almost nobody knew about Fashion Nova. Some people went to the store in Panorama Mall, Los Angeles and purchased clothes there. However, if you mentioned Fashion Nova outside hat mall, most people would ask, “What’s that?”
Many people believe that Fashion Nova was established in 2013. However, it’s been selling clubwear to many women since 2006.
So, you may be wondering:
What happened to Fashion Nova? How was the brand able to gain so much traction? Why didn’t I know Fashion Nova before 2013?
The simple answer? Technology.
Technology changed Fashion Nova and made it the brand you know it as today.
How Technology Changed Fashion Nova
After running the brand in a store in Panorama City for several years, Fashion Nova founder and CEO, Richard Saghian, discovered that some people were reselling Fashion Nova products online for higher prices.
Before launching a Shopify eCommerce store, he decided to do some market research. Saghian didn’t know how e-commerce worked at the time. Initially, he wanted to establish 100 brick-and-mortar stores across the United States so people could find a store close to them. However, he knew that would take many years to accomplish, and he couldn’t reach a very large number of people by doing that.
When Saghian discovered what people were doing, he decided to change what he was doing in brick-and-mortar and move online.
However, he wasn’t sure that the store would be a success. So, before he launched the store, he decided to increase the brand’s following on Instagram. Because he had been engaging with his customers regularly, he was able to get pictures of them in Fashion Nova outfits and upload them to the Instagram page. These customers then shared the pictures and the brand’s following began to rapidly grow.
When the Instagram page hit 60K followers, Saghian decided to launch the online store. That weekend, all the items in the store sold out.
This was the beginning of technology changing Fashion Nova’s status. Instagram was the catalyst that brought thousands, and now millions, of people to the site.
Also Read: How technology has changed education, platforms like Certlibrary where anyone can access free certification exams for the world’s toughest certifications.
Fashion Nova’s Instagram Strategy for Growing the Brand
Fashion Nova is not the only brand that has been using Instagram. So, how have they been able to grow so successfully while many brands are still trying to find their footing?
Richard Saghian implemented various strategies that are still in place today for growing Fashion Nova.
- Regular Feed Updates.
Many people believe that the maximum number of posts anyone should upload daily is 10 posts. Many fashion brands upload less than 10 posts daily.
Fashion Nova, on the other hand, did it differently.
As the brand gained footing and more people started shopping for products, Richard Saghian employed various tailors and designers and increased the company’s production speed. So, they started releasing more than 500 new styles each week.
By having so many styles to release weekly, Fashion Nova needed to upload up to 30 pictures per day, showcasing the new styles.
By expanding their styles and uploading so many posts, Fashion Nova was able to increase its daily engagement rate on Instagram. Offering so many photos of various selections ensures there’s something for everyone to see.
- Engaging with Followers.
Fashion Nova’s customers stay loyal to the brand because the brand has a lot to offer them, like a sense of community. Apart from providing them with affordable and fashionable products, Fashion Nova also engages with its followers on Instagram.
Customers upload pictures of themselves in Fashion Nova outfits using the hashtag #NovaBabes. The hashtag has helped strengthen the community of online Fashion Nova customers, and provides a community for these customers to come to. Fashion Nova also features some of the #NovaBabes posts on its Instagram page.
This encourages more ladies to shop on the site and also upload their pictures. After all, getting featured is an opportunity for their profile to be seen by over 20 million people.
- Influencer Marketing.
Instagram influencer marketing is one of the biggest ways by which Fashion Nova has been able to grow so big in just a few years.
Fashion Nova has partnered with many celebrities, including Cardi B, Megan Thee Stallion, and Kylie Jenner. They also have a huge network of macro and micro-influencers that showcase Fashion Nova products to their followers, encouraging them to shop the items.
Many Fashion Nova customers have mentioned that they started following the page when they saw their favorite influencers wearing the products.
