ZIA Africa - Converting an Instagram Community into Shop Revenue

ZIA Africa is a modern clothing brand that uplifts women into modern elegance with confident, classy fashion (see the website). The brand was founded by Zia Bett, a Nairobi-based fashion entrepreneur who went against the grain to build her own distinct visual style with ZIA Africa.

She needed an e-commerce website that would make purchases from her social and offline networks easy. By automating the business online, she could have more time to create better opportunities to grow the brand.

Zia had amassed an enormous follower base of 15k+ individuals mainly on Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp over almost a decade. However, she had some increasing trouble coordinating these time-consuming customer management tasks to keep her brand afloat:

Taking orders on messaging apps

Sharing product photos

Checking orders off with direct payments

Making checkout short & easy for her customers

Running seasonal campaigns

Keep first-time customers coming back & build recurring revenue

Her first priority was to get an e-commerce website that would solve the first four problems. I got her set up on Shopify instead of WordPress, because she would be able to optimize her store’s growth with Shopify’s advanced ecommerce analytics.

Through ZIA’s loyalty program, members enjoy early access to new collections, personalized styling advice, and VIP perks.

The ZIA Africa app provides real-time style recommendations based on user preferences, purchase history, and trending fashion, creating a personalized and dynamic shopping journey.

ZIA Africa’s collaborations with local artisans not only contribute to economic empowerment but also infuse each collection with authentic craftsmanship and cultural significance.

Eco-Friendly Collections: Each product is labeled with its environmental impact, fostering conscious consumer choices.

Green Packaging Options: ZIA Africa now uses eco-conscious packaging choices, from biodegradable materials to minimalist designs that minimize waste and environmental impact.

Increased online revenue and AOV (average order value)

Community growth on social media through social shopping

Positive customer feedback & growing trust from reviews

Data-driven decision making (internal) and personalization (customers)

Enhanced customer retention strategies e.g loyalty programs, personalized discounts, and targeted email campaigns.

Global market accessibility with international shipping and language options

Instant upselling & crosselling opportunities

Once her product catalog went public on her website, and her store was connected to her Instagram Shop, she could:

Group products into collections on her social media

Link products directly to her social posts

Take followers directly into checkout from her Instagram profile

Add discount codes to her social posts to help convert new followers into customers

Monitor which products her followers viewed & clicked on most with a tracking pixel

Instagram Shop had just launched globally a month before Zia’s project began in late 2020, and her website was the first successful project to launch it with.