Cases of storytelling in eCommerce

As all brands with the ability to tell stories, Warby Parker starts by their own. On "who we are" page that plays a minor role in many shops, they base their value proposal and they detailed what led them to sell graduated glasses with a good design at affordable prices. 

In a close tone that is easy to empathize with, Warby Parker boys tell us how one of the founders lost his glasses during a backpacking trip at University times and how, after spending a semester without glasses while he was saving for new ones they decided that this could not be so and that they had to do something. 

It just seems a brilliant way of saying to the potential customer: I have been in a bad situation and hence I have worked hard so that it does not happen the same to you. I have turned my experience into a mission that will favor you.
 

Also they talk a lot about themselves from a very well-integrated way corporate view. Not only they are not boring but they make you wish work with them. They start talking about their name explaining that it is the combination of the names of two protagonists of Kerouac´s novels and then they say they have a bedside book(Dharma bums) that give each new employee. They also tell how important the satisfaction of their workers is for them (and it must be true seeing their high score on glassdoor.com) 

As absolutely everything, things can be good or bad. Many companies that have corporate social responsibility policies are not able to communicate it properly. Sometimes, they place a logo with just a "contributor with..." and sometimes they even don not highlight it. 

We agree that the supporting policies must not be, by themselves, a commercial argument. But, when they are very integrated into the mission and the vision of a company we have to give them time, first because in this way it will get to more people, and second because the fact to help someone with his purchase without any additional effort it will be always a bonus to your final decision. 

In the case of Warby Parker, we talk about a brand which, in collaboration with NGOs, has developed its own program called: "Buy a pair, give a pair". The landing, that tells the way which for each pair sold other is given to people who belong to communities without resources, is a huge exercise in storytelling, in fact, the headline is very clear: "the story begins with you" 

Instead of getting lost in data (that is also provided) or saying how good they are, they focus on showing many, many images of people from different parts of the world who have been helped. They balance the publishing message with the reinforcement of these portraits very well, living, organic and human that is the result of their effort. It is a very effective projection of what you can achieve with your contribution. 

It may not be as spectacular as the case of Warby Parker, but watching how, in a very simple way, Mouth.com has turned storytelling into the basis of its communication deserves a review in this post. 

Mouth is essentially a place that sells food, one marketplace like others, with its pros and cons. Of course, the main feature of this food is that it is done by small independent companies and independent local producers. What is the most important for their audience? Obviously the traceability of food, the interest in the processes, the raw material...people who are behind. 

I must say that they have understood it perfectly and they have used the ability to tell stories in their eCommerce masterfully and very cheaply. They have a page dedicated to what they call "ourcreators" which is great because you can find all these manufacturers from A to Z using a format similar to a directory. 

If we enter any of them, we access a card in which in addition to their photo, not both the shop and the people who work in it, we can read the story of how, when and where they began, and what products are made. We can find them linked from here. 

I have to say that they are showing to understand their audience better than the average business. This process of humanization is always interesting, but when one of the levers of your communication is handmade, it makes you win points. 

In addition, their catalog is so large that could arouse suspicions in the buyer, how are they going to manufacture all this manually? Here is the answer, in his own words are:" editors who filter only what they love" and this has made them in the engine of a trend: the indie food or independent food. 

Read more examples of storytelling in eCommerce here: 

Images | Unsplash and sites linked.