Abercrombie & Fitch is the top retail brand on Facebook and number four on Twitter. Aeropostale leads the pack on Twitter and is second on Instagram. Rankings such as these, tracked in just the last month, bode well for these retailers in the midst of a back-to-school season in which social channels figure to have their biggest impact ever on retail sales. A recent study from Juniper Research predicted readily accessible Wi-Fi and buy buttons on social networks should help boost e-commerce sales 17% this year.
Nordstrom also fared well in rankings released by Engagement Labs, a social media scoring company that measured retailers’ social profiles against its eValue index, which tracks engagement levels, impact on social networks, and the quickness and effectiveness of response. Among department stores, Nordstrom finished first on both Facebook and Twitter.
Companies such as Hollister and Zumiez, which cater to active youths, fared well with posts focusing on lifestyle. Hollister scored as the top retailer on Instagram last month with custom hashtags like #PickYourPerfectPair and #HCoStyle.
Retailers in general seemed to gain more social traction on Instagram versus the other networks. “This is likely due to the visual nature of the platform, the prevalence of a younger female demographic, and the simplicity of liking a post by just double-tapping the image,” said Engagement Labs CEO Bryan Segal.
