Adding authenticity with community content at MACH speed

Amidst so much technology, it can be easy to forget that e-commerce – and shopping itself – is an inherently human experience. Markets are communities. Marketing is stories. The role of technology is to make the experience of shopping online more authentic and sustainable way.

Even artificial intelligence (AI) – that most techy of technologies – is just a new tool to harness the power of customers, fans and employees and develop inspiring shopping experiences. Connecting the real and digital worlds in order to develop compelling content for these experiences is at the heart of StoryStream.

StoryStream is an AI-powered content platform that seeks to revolutionize how brands and retailers can capitalize on visual, video-based user-generated content (UGC) and the associated social commerce experiences.

This authentic customer, creator, and employee content not only shows what products actually look like in real life but creates compelling stories that give customers greater confidence to buy.

AI automates the curation, enrichment and publishing of authentic imagery and video content across key channels including ecommerce storefronts and social media. This is underpinned by analytics that provide valuable insights into what content is the most effective at driving conversions.

The net result is people-powered, modern digital shopping experiences that engage customers and grow revenues, yet still developing authenticity and trust.

This new UGC and social commerce layer is a natural addition to the MACH stack, so StoryStream joined the MACH Alliance in November 2023. They have already developed key partnerships with Publicis Sapient and Contentful.

End users such as John Lewis and Boden have already embraced the opportunities that these partnership offer, matching products to social comments and community-created content to drive revenue. Elsewhere, innovations such as Live Stream Shopping offer an end-to-end platform to run live-stream shopping shows within a brand's website or app.

Looking to the future, StoryStream is set to explore the content insights space, using AI across successful UGC to get greater visibility into what content drives conversions and why.

For further details on MACH at StoryStream, please contact the team.