Leading high street fashion retailer French Connection has expanded its digital market.

The popular fashion label has announced the activation of a new online service that allows customers to rate its products.

Utilising the social commerce platform Bazaarvoice, French Connection hopes that by encouraging consumers to go online and rate their offerings, customers will be able to share their shopping experiences with their peers to enable the public to make better-informed decisions, while the initiative will also have the added benefit of a likely reduction in the number of returns.

The retailer can also keep abreast of what its customers are saying and tailor their services accordingly, such as using descriptions from reviewers to shape their own presentation and description. The move is the first of several new marketing strategies from French Connection, which is also looking at the addition of an online video sharing service for customers to model items in addition to other digital engagement such as a soon to be released mini-series that will feature on You Tube.

The digital revolution is part of the present ‘The man and the woman’ advertising campaign that will use a series of short films to showcase the forthcoming autumn collection, where viewers can click on the featured items to purchase online. The move is all part of a greater push to bring in-store facilities to in-home, as many customers do not have the time or opportunity to spend hours trying on sizes and models in fitting rooms to make their decision.