# How to run a UGC competition that fills your gallery, online and in-store

A prize plus a deadline plus a clear ask turns a trickle of UGC into a stream. The runbook: five formats, a schedule, copy templates.

By Rohin Aggarwal · 2025-11-28 · (updated 2026-06-19)

A customer standing in a Leroy Merlin aisle, product in hand, is the most motivated photographer you will ever meet. Put a small QR code next to that product and you have an entry. That is the quiet lesson behind a programme that pulled in more than 1,900 pieces of customer content, with a winner every month, online and in the stores.

**Quick answer**

- A prize plus a deadline plus a clear ask turns a trickle of UGC into a stream
- Collect both ways: a hashtag online and a QR code in-store, pooled into one gallery
- Get reuse rights at the point of entry, or you cannot legally use the best pieces
- Pick a winner on a schedule (monthly works); the schedule is the engine
- Put the winners back on the PDP as shoppable content, where UGC turns into revenue

Most brands "collect UGC" by hoping customers tag them, then wonder why the gallery stays empty. A competition changes the deal. A prize, a deadline and a clear ask give someone a reason to post today instead of never. That one shift is the difference between a trickle and a stream.

## Why does a competition beat asking nicely?

The mechanism is simple. An incentive plus a deadline drives volume. Volume gives you choice. A rights request at the point of entry makes the best pieces legally reusable. The gallery puts them back on the product page, where the next shopper is deciding. Visual proof from real customers is consistently one of the strongest trust signals on a PDP, which is why the same content that wins a contest also lifts [UGC conversion rate](/blog/ugc-conversion-rate-boost) once it lands on the page.

- **~4 in 5** — shoppers say UGC influences their purchases (Stackla / Nosto)
- **Several×** — engagement lift of UGC over brand-made posts (Comscore)

_Why the format works (reported industry figures)._

## The proof: Leroy Merlin

Leroy Merlin ran an ongoing competition on Idukki with a winner picked every month. The volume was the headline: more than 1,900 pieces of customer content. The surprise was the channel mix. Alongside hashtag entries online, they collected UGC inside physical stores using QR codes, and that in-store route worked unusually well, because the aisle is where the product is in someone's hands.

- **1,900+** — pieces of UGC collected
- **Monthly** — winners picked
- **In-store** — QR collection, a standout

_Leroy Merlin on Idukki (first-party programme data)._

> A customer holding the product in the aisle is the most motivated photographer you will ever get. A small code turns that moment into an entry.

## Learn from the brands that nailed it

The famous campaigns are worth studying, less for their budgets than for their mechanics. Each one made the ask clear, picked a format native to where its audience already posts, and offered a prize that fit that audience.

| Campaign | The play | Steal this |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ASOS · #AsSeenOnMe | Shoppers post outfits; ASOS features them on-site, shoppably | Always-on and shoppable beats one-off. This is the gallery play Idukki automates. |
| Starbucks · #RedCupContest | Share a photo of the holiday cup for a cash prize | A simple prize works when the product is iconic and the timing is seasonal. |
| e.l.f. · #eyeslipsface | A custom branded TikTok sound for a makeup challenge | Give the format a native hook so it spreads on its own. |
| Gymshark · #Gymshark66 | A 66-day fitness commitment people post into each January | A streak format builds a habit, not a one-off spike. |
| Doritos · #DoritosTriangleTryOut | A TikTok dance with a Super Bowl-ad grand prize | A once-in-a-lifetime prize buys enormous reach. |
| National Geographic · #WanderlustContest | Nature photos for a seven-day Yosemite expedition | Match the prize to the passion. |
| GoPro · Photo of the Day | Best action shots featured daily to millions | The feature itself can be the prize, no budget needed. |

_Famous UGC competitions and the one thing to steal from each._

## Five formats you can run

- [Monthly hashtag contest](/blog/how-to-run-a-ugc-hashtag-campaign): a small recurring prize keeps a programme alive all year (the Leroy Merlin shape).
- In-store QR collection: a code by the product, at the till, or on the packaging, leading to a branded collection page.
- Review-with-photo: entries are [photo reviews, which lift PDP conversion more than text alone](/blog/photo-video-reviews-vs-text-reviews).
- Launch or seasonal: a themed hashtag, a hard deadline, one hero prize.
- Always-on "tag to be featured": no prize budget, the feature is the reward (the GoPro shape).

**How to run one, end to end**
1. **Set one goal** — Volume, photo reviews, leads, or launch content. The goal picks the format.
2. **Pick the prize** — Recurring-and-small beats one-off-and-huge for an ongoing programme. Your product is the best prize.
3. **Build two entry points** — A hashtag online and a QR code in-store, both landing on one branded collection page.
4. **Get rights at entry** — A consent tick or one-tap request at the point of entry makes the best pieces reusable.
5. **Pick winners on schedule** — Monthly keeps it alive. Miss the schedule and the programme dies.
6. **Display the winners** — Put them back on the homepage and PDPs as a shoppable gallery. This is the revenue step.

## How do I word the entry and rights ask?

Steal these. Each one names the product, the prize and the deadline, and the rights request is folded into the entry itself so consent and entry happen in the same tap. For the legal detail behind that consent line, our [UGC rights and permissions guide](/blog/ugc-rights-and-permissions-guide) covers what a defensible grant needs to say.

> **In-store QR card (printed, near the product):** SNAP. SHARE. WIN. Scan the code, share a photo of your [PRODUCT], and you are in this month’s draw.  #[HASHTAG]

> **Launch post (social):** We are giving one of you [PRIZE] every month. Post your [PRODUCT] in action, tag @[BRAND] and use #[HASHTAG]. New winner picked on the [DATE] of every month.

> **Rights request (DM or entry form):** Love this! Can we feature your photo on our website and channels, with credit to you? Reply YES and you are entered for this month’s prize.

## Rights and fair play

- Capture consent to reuse at the point of entry.
- Write plain-language rules: dates, eligibility, how winners are chosen, the prize.
- Credit the creator everywhere the content appears.
- Honour the platforms’ promotion rules.
- Give people a way to revoke their content.
- Never invent or inflate your own entry numbers.

## What should I measure?

- Entries collected (the headline number).
- Rights secured (reusable pieces, not just total posts).
- Cost per usable piece (prize value divided by usable entries).
- On-site lift where the gallery shows: engagement, add-to-cart and conversion.
- Repeat entrants month over month, a sign of real momentum.

## How Idukki runs the whole loop

The point of doing this in one tool is that the loop never breaks between apps. Collect from a hashtag, tagged posts, reviews, and a branded QR page for in-store. Score on a leaderboard. License and reward with rights requests and winner selection built in. Display the winners as a shoppable gallery on your homepage and PDPs. Competitions are included on Pro and Enterprise; the Starter plan runs one live competition at a time, which is plenty to prove the loop.

**The one step most campaigns skip:** The famous campaigns are brilliant at collecting. Where many leave money on the table is display: the content never makes it back to the product page where the next shopper is deciding. Close that loop and a competition stops being a reach exercise and becomes a revenue one.

### FAQs

**Q: How do you run a UGC competition for an ecommerce store?**

A: Start with one goal, whether that's volume, photo reviews, or launch content, since the goal decides the format. Pick a prize that's small and recurring rather than one-off and huge. Build two entry points, a hashtag online and a QR code in-store, both landing on one branded collection page, and get reuse rights at the point of entry. Then pick winners on a schedule and put them back on the site as a shoppable gallery.

**Q: What's the difference between a hashtag contest and an in-store QR code campaign?**

A: A hashtag contest collects entries from people already following you online, while an in-store QR code catches a customer with the product in hand, right in the aisle, which is often the most motivated moment for a photo. Both should pool into one branded collection page rather than staying separate.

**Q: Do you need permission to reuse UGC competition entries?**

A: Yes. Capture consent to reuse at the point of entry, ideally folded into the entry itself so consent and entry happen in one tap. Write plain-language rules covering dates, eligibility, and how winners are chosen, credit the creator wherever the content appears, and give people a way to revoke it later. Without that consent, the best entries aren't legally reusable on your site.

**Q: How often should you pick a winner in an ongoing UGC contest?**

A: Monthly works well as a cadence: it's frequent enough to keep the programme alive, and missing the schedule is what kills these campaigns. A recurring, smaller prize suits this pace better than a single large one-off prize.

**Q: What should you measure to know if a UGC competition is working?**

A: Entries collected is the headline number, but rights secured, the pieces you can actually legally reuse, matters more than raw volume. Track cost per usable piece, on-site lift such as engagement, add-to-cart and conversion where the gallery shows, and repeat entrants month over month as a sign of real momentum. A platform like Idukki can score entries on a leaderboard and handle rights requests and winner selection as part of running the loop.

### Sources
- Stackla / Nosto, State of User-Generated Content — Shopper trust and purchase influence
- Comscore, engagement of user-generated vs brand-made content
- [Billo, 7 Best UGC Contest Examples](https://billo.app/blog/ugc-contests/)
- Public campaigns: ASOS #AsSeenOnMe, Starbucks #RedCupContest, e.l.f. #eyeslipsface, Gymshark #Gymshark66, Doritos #DoritosTriangleTryOut, National Geographic #WanderlustContest, GoPro

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Canonical: https://idukki.io/blog/how-to-run-a-ugc-competition
Tags: ugc-competition, ugc-contest, hashtag-contest, user-generated-content, qr-code, playbook