How Locker Became the Ultimate Digital Vault

Published on Oct. 29, 2024 at 3:17 p.m.

By Rhodes Reddick.

As the digital age surges, industries continue to adapt and keep up with ever-evolving technology. This is especially true in the world of fashion and e-commerce.

Although fashion has been a form of self expression since the 1960s, it wasn’t until the 1990s that “fast fashion” quickly gained momentum in the field of marketing as businesses fought to stay on top of the latest trends.

In an effort to build communities around fashion, Kristine Locker founded Locker, “a social shopping tool and platform,” according to its LinkedIn profile.

“I came to building Locker really from the perspective of a consumer. I love to shop online. I love to see what brands are dropping, and then I really wanted to be able to connect with friends or people similar to me and see what they were shopping for,” said Locker.

The idea for the company was to create a utility tool so shoppers could slow down and keep track of their products, while also creating a social platform where users could connect with each other. Locker offers a window into what others are shopping for, while they might not traditionally be called influencers and may not have access to another platform to be able to curate an influential following.

Locker is available to install as a Google extension but also as an app for Apple products. This combination of shopping tool and social platform solves a shopper’s problem of constantly filing through open tabs, and instead is a centralized location that will archive the shopper’s wants.

Locker’s company vision has also developed as the organization launched its Locker Shopping Club and college ambassador program.

The Locker Shopping Club allows members to make money off of their referrals and get exclusive access to member events and Locker merchandise. The company’s College Ambassador Program officially started this fall and features ambassadors from schools across the United States.

“To encourage organic growth across cities and campuses, we had to get to the source of the girls who are on Locker, who are actively texting their friends, ‘What are you wearing on game day?’” explained Mary Grace Scully, head of marketing at Locker. “Shopping and browsing are the things that we love to talk about, and we want to share with our friends. The goal is to reward people who love Locker for sharing it with their friends, so you can earn perks like exclusive merchandise and rewards through referrals.”

Ambassador marketing has become a highly effective strategy for building brand awareness, trust and loyalty by fostering a sense of community around a brand. In the competitive race to engage Gen Z, student ambassador programs on college campuses have quickly emerged as a powerful tool for brands to connect authentically with this key demographic.

From a public relations perspective, Locker’s ability to reward users who genuinely enjoy the platform is a step in the right direction.

“As a startup, you’re forced to get pretty creative and scrappy with how you can encourage shoppers to help spread the word, and the outcome is much more genuine and sustainable than marketing with a huge budget and not applying that budget in a meaningful way,” said Scully, in response to the innovation behind the ambassador program.

Even in today’s market, there are several barriers for women to receive funding in comparison to men.

Kristine Locker noted the difficulty in receiving funding as a solo female founder. However, she also pointed out that the challenge forced her to figure out for herself which revenue streams would benefit from marketing.

“Community was the first thing that came to mind. And it was the first thing that was working for us quite well, was finding people like you who love the platform and have this affinity for Locker and want to talk about, share about it and bring that to their own community as well,” said Locker.

In an effort to avoid falling into the shiny object syndrome, Scully and Locker agreed that even over the years, their goals are still the same in creating the strongest platform for users. As the Locker company continues to innovate, its ability to develop as a shopping platform will be the driving factor in its success.