How Saniweb & Sanidirect benefit from UGC | Case study

Sanidirect and Saniweb have seen that users who interact with User Generated Content convert 3.8 and 5.5 times more respectively. Read on to learn how Saniweb and Sanidirect have successfully integrated UGC into their eCommerce in new and exciting ways.

Numbers

The Story

Saniweb and Sanidirect are two Dutch bathroom design brands under the De Mandemakers Groep. They sell a wide array of different high-quality bathroom parts including showers, toilets, taps, sinks, bathroom furniture, mirrors, taps, heaters, floor tiles, and bathroom accessories.

Sanidirect has an impressive network of 27 showrooms across the Netherlands. They strive to offer bathrooms at a range of price points, with prices for complete bathrooms varying from  €2,750 to  €20,000.

Saniweb is one of the largest eCommerce sanitary vendors on the market. They offer the largest range of bathroom fixtures in the Netherlands and Belgium and operate solely online, allowing customers to order entire bathrooms or separate fixtures from the convenience of their homes.

Challenge

Saniweb/Sanidirect found that professional product images captured in showrooms were not as relatable to customers as images of real bathrooms in real homes. They needed a way to gather a more authentic form of content.

“We had professional images, it was very product-focused (like professional photography of products in the showroom) so I wanted to change that. That type of photography is not really relatable to customers. So I started to think ‘content is king’.  How can we get more relatable content?”

Ilse Burghouwt, Brand Manager at Sanidirect & Saniweb

Encouraging social media users to post pictures of their bathrooms is a little bit more of a challenge than many other product niches due to the fact that bathrooms are widely considered a private area of the home. However, with the right User Generated Content integration in place where consumers could upload their images directly to the Saniweb and Sanidirect websites rather than to their own social media accounts the brands were able to overcome that obstacle.

Solution

User Generated Content enabled Saniweb and Sanidirect to digitally connect with customers in an honest and collaborative manner that aligns with their corporate values. UGC has helped both companies breathe life into their product images, allowing consumers a realistic glimpse of how their products will look once installed in their homes. 

“Flowbox has allowed us to enhance our values, like transparency. We already have pictures of the products that are very clean and professional. And then (with UGC) you can see how the products look in real situations. The photos are taken in customers’ homes so I think UGC really enhances our values in that sense.”

Ilse Burghouwt,Brand Manager at Sanidirect & Saniweb

Both companies have woven UGC into their daily operations in different ways. Saniweb is an eCommerce only operation and Sanidrect has physical stores – so the customer journey varies between the two. User Generated Content offers inspiration to consumers online on product pages, is integrated into their blog posts and email campaigns, in promotional content, in a stylish lookbook, as well as in showrooms.

Results