Smashion Combines Social Networking With Fashion

04:38 PM, July 05 2010 By: ChicGalleria

Smashion offers a large variety of fashion items ranging from vintage; overstock items, mid-range priced items, luxury and independent designers. I interviewed Smashion’s Marketing Director Vanessa Kuo to learn about Smashion and the growing popularity of the site!

Smashion is such a great concept, what made you think of marrying the two worlds of social media and commerce?

It’s easy to underestimate the effect social media has on commerce. Nowadays, more and more marketing is done via the Internet, through grassroots ad campaigns and shared media amongst your close networks. Smashion chose to implement social commerce to assist in our e-commerce because we believe that everyone is most influenced by their peers. If you see your trusted peers getting involved, the experience becomes more personal and you’re more likely to join in on the fun.

Who are some of your most popular sellers?

We have not yet rated seller popularity yet.

What do you love most about Smashion?

I love that it’s the first no-fees social marketplace for people to sell slightly-used or NWT apparel items. We saw the growing trend in buying second-hand clothing and Smashion is our response to that and to the lack of a community-based fashion-focused online marketplace. Sites like eBay lack a community where individuals with similar fashion interests can convene to share and discuss fashion, and we wanted to fill that market gap. We also want to show people who are interested in recycling their closets, that they don’t need to lose a percentage of their sales like when they consign, nor do they have to pay high fees to sell. That’s why we’re so different than our competitors – we also leave all the listings up indefinitely, unlike sites like Craigslist, where you would have to relist every few days.

Do you find that there is unique retailer/customer relationship on Smashion?

Definitely. We have a lot of sellers who are used to consigning, and therefore familiar with having good business and customer relationship habits. Also, a lot of our target market includes Gen X and Y’ers who understand their peers have short attention spans and expect quick turnaround. This encourages them to be accurate when listing descriptions, and prompt in responding to customer inquiries and shipping out orders. Also, the fact that Smashion is its own community makes its members want to support each other and this is evident in the forum discussions and the style gallery.

What is one of the most unique/memorable items you have seen sold on Smashion?

There have been so many great listings, I don’t know if I can pick just one! One of my personal favorite listings is the Elephant Necklace sold by boutique owner, Pretty Little Thing NYC (Smashion name: prettylittlethingnyc). MTV’s Alexa Chung was photographed wearing this adorable necklace on the red carpet. You can see it here.

Visit www.Smashion.com and discover this wonderful way to shop!

Written by Nadia Murdock for Chic Galleria magazine.