We recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Luisa Arango, Head of Marketing and E-commerce at Kastel Shoes, to discuss the brand’s journey, its unique approach to urban performance footwear, and the challenges they faced with customer feedback systems before joining Lipscore. Learn how Kastel Shoes is leveraging Lipscore’s powerful review platform to showcase authentic customer stories, streamline their digital strategy, and enhance their reach as they expand into new markets.  

About Kastel Shoes

Kastel Shoes is an urban performance footwear brand based in the Nordics, known for its weatherproof, lightweight shoes designed for city living. With a focus on durability, waterproof features, and premium grip through their partnership with Vibram, Kastel Shoes provides customers with versatile footwear that can withstand the harshest Nordic climates. Their shoes offer the perfect blend of functionality and style, making them a favorite for those who navigate both city streets and rugged weather.

The Challenge

Before adopting Lipscore, Kastel Shoes relied on another platform to gather customer feedback. While they received an overwhelming number of customer reviews, they found themselves constrained by the system. As Kastel’s Head of Marketing and E-commerce, Luisa Arango, noted: “We couldn’t control how we wanted those stories to appear on our website. Every time we had a new idea for storytelling, we had to pay more.” This made it difficult for Kastel to fully leverage the customer stories that resonated so well with their target audience.

Enter Lipscore: A New Approach to Customer Reviews

Kastel Shoes chose Lipscore based on a recommendation from their performance marketing specialist, Thomas Moen. As Luisa noted, “It’s thanks to him that we ended up signing up.” Thomas, who leads their performance and email marketing efforts, recognized the importance of implementing a strong review system to drive conversions. His insight guided Kastel Shoes to Lipscore, where they now benefit from a robust platform that enhances customer feedback and boosts engagement.

One of the main reasons behind their decision was Lipscore’s focus on authenticity—ensuring that all reviews come from real customers. Luisa emphasized, “We want customers to talk with customers directly, and the best way to do that is through real reviews. Lipscore provided us with that trust.” Lipscore allowed them to maintain full control over how they displayed customer stories, without requiring frequent upgrades or additional payments.

Positive Results with Lipscore

Since integrating Lipscore, Kastel Shoes has seen several key benefits:

• Authenticity: “Even though our feedback wasn’t made up before, Lipscore gave our customers more confidence that the feedback was real.”
• Smooth Setup: The brand particularly praised Lipscore’s extensive and up-to-date Knowledge Base, which they found instrumental in setting up their review system. Luisa shared, “The Knowledge Base was one of the best I’ve worked with. Everything matched perfectly with what we were doing, which is not always the case with other platforms. It empowered us to do the setup ourselves, even though the backend can be a bit complex.”
• Conversion Boost: “Feedback is a key factor in improving conversion rates, and Lipscore helps us do that by ensuring we have real, trustworthy feedback.”

Moving Forward: A Strong Partnership with Lipscore

Kastel Shoes is still evaluating the full impact of Lipscore on their latest product lines, including new footwear and an upcoming launch of socks, but they remain confident in the power of authentic feedback. As they continue to grow, they trust Lipscore to scale with their brand while maintaining the integrity of their customer feedback system.

When asked if she would recommend Lipscore, Luisa’s response was clear: “100%. You guys are very trustworthy. Your technical team is skillful, and Lipscore offers more in its plans than any other review system I’ve come across.”

As Kastel expands into new markets like Sweden, they plan to leverage Lipscore’s translation feature for localized feedback. Luisa added, “It’s great to know that we can easily enter new markets with the confidence that our reviews will carry over seamlessly. It was a painless process for us.”