Pulling Back the Curtain on Curation as a Service

For decades, access to luxury one-on-one services like travel agents, interior decorators and personal stylists has been limited to the 1%. But in this digital age where authenticity is celebrated and everyday consumers are becoming curators, platforms are evolving to grant everyday people access to these services that have been historically gatekept.

The democratization of content is proving that most businesses who prioritize exclusivity actually stand to benefit by catering to aspiring customers. And the most strategic 'curation as a service' businesses are viewing their admirers as future prospects that should be nurtured, not ignored.

We spoke with a few businesses using Locker to provide value for prospects and better serve their customers, while saving time and driving revenue.

The home decor category is quickly rising the search ranks within Locker , with a near majority of our 10K+ collages featuring home layouts instead of outfit flats. But no one understands the use case for Locker in the interior design world better than Mary Grace Kelly of Angela Grace Design.

Mary Grace (not to be confused with Locker's own Mary Grace Scully ) leads marketing at award-winning interior design firm @angelagracedesign on Locker and Instagram.

Her team is using Locker to quite literally pull back the curtain on their decor projects and give their online community access to professional product recommendations, even without hiring the team as their personal designer.

“If a client's home project gets picked up in a magazine then we get inundated with emails and Instagram DMs of shoppers dying to know how they can purchase products they've seen in the press, such as a blanket from our Jackson Hole shoot,” says Mary Grace.

Typically, design firms would ignore these types of requests or encourage them to book a client meeting. But the Angela Grace team has taken a more welcoming approach, that nurtures lifetime value of prospects within their online community.

“Now with any major design project, we're building out curated collections and collages that are specific to projects or rooms, it's like 'here's a wrapped up package of every product we used, as well as more affordable or accessible options if what we used was a designer or antique.'”

Take this hotly-requested Jackson Hole room collage for example.

“We're bridging the gap for people who feel like using a interior designer isn't feasible for them now or aren't in market for a major project, but we are still able to provide value and nurture that relationship with them.”

Not to mention Locker has come in handy on the operations side of things, well before the project is ready to be shared.

“We use Locker as both a way to discover new brands and products, as well as an organizational tool to keep track of everything we love and want to save for later projects,” says Mary Grace. “For example, we might come across an incredible pillow but not have the perfect client for it yet, but don't want to forget about it, so we can save it to our Locker.”

The team also sees the benefits when working with clients directly, increasing efficiencies operationally.

“I can definitely see us collaborating with clients to curate private Locker collections for them because it's so much easier than our current process creating spreadsheets and mood boards. When working with a client to narrow it down between three pieces of art - it's so much better for them to be able to see the products next to each other visually which typically necessitates manually adding images into a slide show presentation with separate links and notes. Meanwhile, Locker does it all for you by tapping the extension, selecting which collection, and being able to add a note about the dimension or color recommendation right onto the product link.”

Plus from a revenue perspective, Mary Grace reiterates that other than wholesale discounts or the occasional Etsy partnership, there isn't currently a streamlined way for interior designers to capitalize on commissionable revenue from their product recommendations.

“We're really excited for Locker to roll out revenue share and add an additional income stream as a result of our time spent curating and sharing our recommendations with our community and clients,” says Mary Grace.

Locker is not new to Mary Grace or the Angela Grace team - they have been using it since last year's holiday season to curate a collection of gift recommendations featuring small businesses.

“As a personal user of Locker and as someone who doesn't like having tabs left open on my phone, it's so satisfying being able to close out of my browser tabs and delete my screenshots of products,” says Mary Grace. “Using the Locker app literally feels like spring cleaning - I know all my favorite products are safe in one place and aren't lost in my notes app.”

“For example if I take a screenshot of a cute bag from an Instagram ad, or come across a product that would be perfect for an Angela Grace client, I would have never been able to find it again without saving it on the go with Locker. Honestly, Locker is my favorite thing, it's so satisfying.”

And the Angela Grace Design team isn't the only creative team in the 'client curation as a service' industry utilizing Locker to more efficiently serve their clients while reaching more potential consumers.

Dozens of travel agents/agencies like The Local Foreigner use Locker to curate collections like packing suggestions for popular travel destinations.

And just recently, fashion styling service Fashivly used Locker to create a style guide for our own Mary Grace, going viral on TikTok.

Seeing businesses in the client services industry push past traditional norms and offer accessibility and value for their aspiring community further affirms Locker's mission of sharing the power of curation with all who want to take charge of their consumer & creator journey.

If you're also a part of a business who wants to tap into Locker's platform features to up-level your current client or future community offerings, we'd love to help get you up-to-speed on Locker. Feel free to send us an email at [email protected] to chat.

We look forward to curating together!

- Mary Grace Scully , Director of Growth at Locker