Why eBay's LookBook Can Only Work in the Short Term
File this one under: monkey see, monkey do. Though eBay's (EBAY) management team's been hard at work trying to up the auction giant's fashion cred through a number of new e-commerce initiatives, each one has mostly appeared to be an unabashed copy of other fashion retail successes. Its latest, LookBook, is no different. But while knocking off runway styles has become amore acceptable business practice, the style team at eBay would do well to put their heads together and come up with something original.
For one, eBay's LookBook borrows heavily from independent style bloggers. Though they're a growing force to be reckoned that even the more haute arbiters of taste have acknowledged, what's set them apart is the spontaneity of their snapshots and the distinct lack of corporate sponsors. eBay's user-generated style gallery attempts to weave the indie element into retail. And that's where it starts to fall apart.
While independent fashionistas are submitting their own personal looks, eBay muscles in and "encourages" voting for the faves. But when the coveted look is clicked â€" the user is immediately shown other photos of similar items, available for sale on, wait for it--eBay. Essentially, team eBay's taken their "you may also like" function and slapped it on the more voyeuristic thrill of scrolling and seeking others styles. Sure eBay's purpose is to sell, so why not just list the items in a sidebar a la Stylite's Style Sheet?
Then there's the contest part. Fashionistas can't resist a giveaway, and a shopping spree worth $5,000 is certainly a squee-worthy grand prize. But this contest also ropes in some industry insiders and celebs including Lucky Magazine's Michael Waring, editor-at-large Elise Loehnen, and Whitney Port of MTV's The City.
The problem with that is once the hype of the big contest is over, there's a daily giveaway (win a vintage Linea Pelle belt!), but is that enough of a draw? Must eBay keep investing in creating more big challenges or let the whole thing fizzle out and hope that enough users will stay interested enough to keep posting daily outfit shots and providing them with content?
The only way eBay's LookBook could work is as a short-term endeavor kind of like Urban Outfitter's (URBN) haul video contest. No one, not even the most die-hard style hunter, has the stamina to post and search daily on a blog that's not their own, not even the most dedicated denizens of Lookbook.nu's style gallery.
By making LookBook a short-term deal the equivalent of a limited-time only sale (like an auction!), eBay can cash in on the furor generated by exclusivity. Then the only company it will be cribbing from would be itself. Nothing wrong with that.
Image via eBay
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