In the early days of blogging, especially in fashion and design, bloggers took retailers by surprise. It was a new situation: Bloggers were not just outspoken, but also unbounded by journalism practices that might have tempered what they had to say. 

Then retailers embraced the practice. By 2013, some 46% of specialty retail corporations had corporate blogs. Retailers like Target routinely use their blogs to connect with customers and announce company news; it recently took to its A Bullseye View blog to communicate a recent change in its firearms policy. 

But independent bloggers remain an unwieldy bunch, causing havoc that sometimes leads retailers to react in ways not always helpful to long-term goals.

Blogs by retail employees

Several retailers a few years ago faced a rash of uncontrolled blogging by employees, which in some cases posted seemingly innocuous, (if confidential,) information or photos. Others published outright inappropriate posts, like unseemly poses in company uniforms or complaints about the company. 

Most retail companies now have employee policies that address such issues, perhaps having learned their lesson the hard way. 

Bloggers sometimes move on

After many years of running her blog, where she often posted outfit-of-the-day photos and wrote other posts more geared to succeeding in life, Moorea Seal now runs a retail operation of her own. A jewelry designer long engaged on Pinterest, Seal is now also working with several U.S. designers for her e-commerce retail site and her storefront in Seattle.

Fabulist, a now-defunct gay social media site that curated deals for followers, has morphed into furniture retailer fab.com.

Blogs by retail fans

By far the stickiest situation for retailers are blogs by fans. While retail marketers spend a lot of energy engaging their best customers on social media, bloggers are on their own, and have much to say.

Most retail bloggers are pretty clear about their fandom. Effortless Anthropologie, run by Roxy, a tech employee who “loves their stuff," posts photos of herself trying out Anthropologie outfits and writes up reviews and observations about the clothing's fit and patterns. Despite her enthusiasm for the brand, not all her reviews are positive, which is what makes her blog useful to her readers (presumably fellow Anthropologie enthusiasts).

Luluaddict similarly posts about Lululemon Athletica’s activewear, including photos showing how the merchandise works in various yoga positions and fitness activities.

But it was some of Lululemon’s biggest fans, many of them bloggers, who railed against the company’s (now former) policy prohibiting re-sales of its clothing. 

One of J. Crew’s top followers, meanwhile, is “J. Crew Aficionada,” who says her blog is devoted to her “favorite retail obsession. It’s all about J. Crew fashion, style, news, and shopping experience. A place to discuss all aspects of J. Crew.”

J. Crew Aficionada is mostly a retailer’s dream. But even she questioned the retailer’s recent addition of a triple-zero size. She later posted a blog detailing the retailer’s defense that the new size was developed to accommodate the smaller average size of its Asian customers. 

Several other J. Crew bloggers were not so diplomatic, calling out the retailer for its new small size and its vanity sizing, among other practices, in much more critical terms. 

For furniture retailer Ikea, one fan poses an entirely different problem. On her blog IkeaHackers, Jules Yap demonstrates how to alter Ikea products in creative ways to change up their appearance or how they might be used. Her site is popular enough to sell advertising and supplement her income.

But, rather than welcoming the notion, or even simply ignoring it, Ikea sent her a cease and desist letter for infringing on its intellectual property rights, and demanded control of her blog’s domain name. The retailer invited mostly criticism, including from marketing experts, for its handling of the matter. Ikea has since backed off. 

There’s still time for Ikea to embrace the idea, but for now, the blog remains in operation.

As social commerce expands, retailers will likely continue to find that the fine line between them and the fans and frenemies who blog can be a delicate one.