Influencers: I, like most mortals, have somewhat of a love-hate relationship with them. I follow them on Instagram mainly to scoff at their unrealistic lifestyle, yet still wish desperately I was among them, bathing in the glow of free holidays and a seemingly endless stream of invitations to events us commoners could only dream of attending.
About a year ago, I was among them, sort of. As a features writer at a major fashion publication, I was privy to hotel and restaurant openings, previewing upcoming collections from Australian and international designers, and rubbed shoulders with the A list. Not for nothing. There was an expectation that we’d write about it or at least give our readers a sneak peek into our world via Instagram stories – inspiring them, hopefully, to make a purchase of that product, visit that store or book that holiday. This is what brands hope influencers will do too. But when an international e-commerce site features product gifted to influencers on Instagram, only for their customers to be told, “We don’t offer this exact product”, what does this say to the customer and how much they are valued?
This is a question I had when examining the comments on a photo shared by Net-A-Porter. While hosting an exclusive, influencer and media event on the Mornington Peninsula, they pictured three suitcases with each influencer’s initials monogrammed on the side. Amassing 12.8k likes, the public went wild for the luggage, only to find that Net-A-Porter doesn’t stock the featured colourways and only offers one letter, not a full monogramming service.
“If you spend all the money for the shoot and promoting it, then why not actually offer that colour/2 initial-combination on your homepage?” wrote one customer. “Completely agree,” wrote another in response. “It's so frustrating to see something in a photo and then be told, “We don’t carry this exact item, but we have similar...” Advertise what you’re selling FFS!” Customers could Google the brand’s name and order from them directly, but not only does that pull sales away from Net-A-Porter (and aren’t sales the whole point?), it pisses people off.
It therefore begs the question: what is achieved by showing potential customers a product they cannot have? This suggests there has been a troubling shift in priorities: the pretty girl with thousands of followers who was seemingly gifted product is Number One and the customer, who spends their hard-earned money on product, is not. It’s not gifting itself that’s the issue here. Gifting is fine and brands gravitate towards it because even though exposure is not guaranteed, it’s potentially free (more or less) advertising. The issue is that in this particular example, it’s highlighting a product that is not available, period, to customers. Influencers are no doubt a great tool to showcase new and upcoming product, as well as generate that sought-after buzz.
But customers, particularly those who shop at luxury retailers, want and deserve to feel special. After all, they’re the ones who've actually paid for it.