Celebrity curation is one route to helping online shoppers select products
As part of the launch of her cookbook, “My Father’s Daughter,” actress and GOOP newsletter publisher Gwyneth Paltrow partnered with home decor flash-sales website One Kings Lane to curate a one-day sale. Prior to the sale, Paltrow hosted an A-list dinner party where she cooked recipes from her book for guests like actress Cameron Diaz and chef Mario Batali. The products she chose, from the cookware to the table settings, were then sold on One Kings Lane under Paltrow’s seal of approval.
One Kings Lane often features well-known tastemakers such as Alice Waters, chef and owner of Berkeley’s seminal slow-food restaurant, Chez Panisse, as well as prominent design bloggers, curating collections on its site. “Guest curators can provide a level of endorsement that’s helpful beyond what we provide,” said Doug Mack, One Kings Lane CEO.
The appearance by Paltrow was particularly well received, Mack told eMarketer. In addition to One Kings Lane’s marketing of the sale, Paltrow promoted the event to her GOOP newsletter audience and her Twitter-follower base of over 500,000. Not only did the event attract droves of members to the one-day sale, but it spurred new member registrations. According to Mack, “Gwyneth Paltrow’s curation drew in more traffic, more sales and more new shoppers vs. what we would have expected if we didn’t have her as the curator for the event.”
Paltrow’s sale was significant in giving awareness to home and kitchen brands such as Canvas Home tableware. “When you marry a known personality with lesser-known products and treasures, you really see some of the magic happen,” Mack said.
One Kings Lane both reaches out to and fields requests for guest curators on a regular basis. “It goes back to the core premise of curation in that we need to have a sharp edge on who really makes sense to work with and who doesn’t,” Mack said. “Otherwise, your curation gets diluted.”
In addition to working with renowned designers and decorators, One Kings Lane is innovating upon its model with events like container sales, movie set sales and estate sales.
This article also appeared in eMarketer’s March 2012 report, “Curated Ecommerce: How Less Can Be More for Shoppers.”
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