Two weeks ago we reported on the unveiling of the Nicki Minaj x LØCI sneaker collab and it seems that the launch a few days ago was a big success.

The collection went on sale through new community commerce platform Uppfirst and we’re told it “smashed normal e-commerce conversion rates with a massive 8.7% conversion rate in the first hour the shoes went live while holding at 7.8% in the following 12 hours”.

The typical rate of sales in a standard e-commerce store is 3%-5%.

Of course, there are lots reasons for the success this time and the combination of a high-profile name like Nicki Minaj with celeb favourite LØCI is a big part of that.

But Uppfirst, which is backed by Net-a-Porter co-founder Carmen Busquets, believes its own tech had a lot to do with it as well and it’s undeniable that dodgy tech can be a killer for even the most in-demand launches.

In this case, the company said its ecosystem “ensured the speed of sale for customers due to a one-step, frictionless process that ensured reduced consumer drop-off until checkout, which is so often the case for lost transactions in e-commerce”.

LØCI founder and CEO Emmanuel Eribo said of the partnership: “Knowing the hype that Nicki would bring, we needed a tech partner that could power the release and sale of our sneakers with an easy-to-use checkout experience so they could secure their purchase as quickly as possible. The conversion rate is testament to Uppfirst delivering on that demand.”