Latest news with #ShopMy
Business of Fashion
2 days ago
- Business
- Business of Fashion
ShopMy Doubles Down on Its E-Commerce Ambitions
ShopMy wants to be a destination for shopping, not scrolling. This week, the influencer monetisation service will relaunch its website with revamped storefronts for creators that will automatically populate with every product they link to on Instagram, TikTok, Substack or other platforms. The storefront is designed to simplify finding past products a creator has shared; rather than digging through past posts in hopes of locating a link, followers can simply search for the desired item on said creator's ShopMy page. An app offering similar features will follow in the coming months, said ShopMy co-founder Tiffany Lopinsky and Harry Rein, ShopMy's chief executive and co-founder. It's a major push from ShopMy, which provides the tools for influencers to sell products to their followers via affiliate links, gifted items and sponsored posts, to position itself as an e-commerce platform in its own right. It's also another way to differentiate itself from rival LTK, which has leaned further into content: this past February, LTK unveiled its own overhaul, introducing more features designed to encourage creators to post about more than products they'd like followers to buy. 'We're still not a content destination,' said Rein. 'We want people to post on Instagram and TikTok, and we'll do all the behind-the-scenes work so when someone actually wants to shop, they can come to us.' The idea, according to Lopinsky, is to create a place that will permanently host and organise all the products they share, so followers can easily go find them later. For example, if a follower remembers loving a bathing suit a creator posted months ago on Stories, rather than digging through their highlights in hopes of finding a link, they can simply go to their ShopMy page and search for it. The changes come six months after ShopMy announced it had raised $77.5 million at a $410 million valuation, led by venture capital firms Bessemer Venture Partners and Bain Capital Ventures. Competition in the affiliate marketing space continues to heat up as more and more consumers — not just traditional creators and influencers — use the platforms to make a few extra bucks off of their own recommendations. ShopMy now has 150,000 creators and over 1,000 brands as a part of its network, up from 50,000 last spring. Also in the works is a ShopMy app, which is set to debut by the beginning of next year. Its arrival will put ShopMy even more directly in competition with LTK, which has centred much of its growth efforts in recent years around its own app. It also carries some risks. As recently as last year, Lopinsky told The Business of Fashion that the company had no plans to create an app. ShopMy, which was founded in 2020, grew rapidly by offering services that the better-established LTK didn't. One frequent complaint: that LTK was trying to steer too much activity onto its own app at the expense of creators whose businesses were centred on Instagram or TikTok. But the change in tune, Lopinsky said, is a natural next step. 'We view creators as retailers … and for the places that you shop at the most, you probably have their app,' she said. One of the website features set to arrive this week is 'Circles,' which functions as a grouped storefront for multiple influencers. ShopMy has curated some of these itself — there's one for interior design experts, for example, and another for fashion industry insiders, made up of former editors and buyers — but users can also create their own Circles. '[Each storefront] is like their own boutique, but a circle is like a mini department store that's made of what all the people you follow are finding across the internet,' said Lopinsky. Most of the other new features are designed to improve the shopping experience on the app: Users will also be able to create wishlists of their top products, sort storefronts by most favourited items and read independent product reviews, powered by the recommendation platform Thingtesting, which ShopMy acquired in May. The hope, Rein said, is that all these features will help ShopMy not only grow its name recognition among consumers as a shopping destination, but its use as a customer retention tool for brands. 'We just want to keep pushing the boundary of 'If you're going to put an incremental dollar in, you should put it through these people that love your product, that talk about it,'' he said.
Elle
21-07-2025
- Business
- Elle
The Surprising Place People Are Turning for Shopping Recommendations
In the age of social media, phrases like 'link in bio,' 'like and subscribe,' and 'everybody's been asking,' have been seared into our vocabulary, especially if you follow influencers with massive online followings. However, a fan base is no longer a prerequisite for sharing and profiting off of your own curated recommendations. Most probably started noticing affiliate links in the early 2010s, when RewardStyle, now known as LTK, entered the scene and allowed bloggers to earn money from their product recommendations through commissions on every sale. More than two decades later, the company counts on 40 million monthly users and drives $5 billion in annual retail sales through its platform. A newer player is ShopMy, which launched in 2020, and is now valued at $410 million after it announced it had raised $77.5 million earlier this year. According to ShopMy, its affiliate rates range anywhere from 4 to 50 percent. In 2025, influencer-driven shopping behavior is a natural result of how much time we're spending on our phones. Online personalities like Leandra Medine Cohen, Tamu McPherson, and Tinx are helping shape what we buy, all within the palms of our own hands. A 2024 Pew Research Center survey found that 62 percent of U.S. adults on TikTok rely on the app for product recommendations. Looking specifically at female users between the ages of 18 to 49 on the platform, that percentage jumps to 74 percent. Now, the affiliate link landscape is changing yet again. LTK, ShopMy, and Amazon Storefront currently allow anyone to easily create commissionable links they can share, regardless of platform size. Meaning, you can click a link to a product recommended by Meghan Markle just as easily as you can one from your co-worker. Many of these platforms are technically invite-only, but you can apply to join. On ShopMy, you can easily be referred by someone already on there. Bryn Poulos, a New York City-based fashion consultant with just under 4,000 Instagram followers, has been on ShopMy for a little over six months. She was encouraged by her friend, jewelry designer Jennifer Fisher, to join, despite not having a major Instagram following of her own. Originally, she did so in an effort to 'get a better hold on finances,' feeling inspired by personal finance creators like Tori Dunlap (@herfirst100k) and Haley Sacks (@mrsdowjones), to invest, save, and develop a new revenue stream. 'At first, you're not really making much if I can really build out my investments through this platform, that's great,' Poulos says, before adding, 'working in fashion, your friends are going to ask you for links all the time anyway.' Poulos familiarized herself with the platform, and started generating commissionable links to share. 'It was mainly things I was wearing,' she explains. 'Then I realized you didn't have to be wearing an outfit to promote it. You could just post the links with the picture of your edits, like you would if you're doing a magazine page or a gift guide. That opened a lot more doors.' It didn't take long for her to climb the platform's tiered system, which rewards users who drive strong traffic and order volume, to the very top (dubbed 'Icon'). This then brought gifting and brand partnerships (she's worked with Coach on two promotions so far). Beyond sharing links and curating products on her profile, Poulos has also found success in using a platform like ShopMy for other aspects of her professional life: As a personal shopper and stylist, she can compile products for her clients there. 'It's one link that they click, and everything's in one place,' she says. The affiliate link appeal expands beyond the fashion industry, too. Take Jess Gray, a sports business executive in Detroit with just under 3,000 Instagram followers, who opened a LTK account almost three years ago. Like Poulos, she figured she should find a way to streamline the process of sharing links to products her friends kept asking her for. She'll post things she loves, as well as things she knows could work for a variety of lifestyles. Recommendations can include the comfiest work-from-home leggings, 'or, if I'm traveling, what I'm packing or what I use on the road,' she says. But there's a clear appetite from her peers: 'The feedback I get is, 'I want more.'' For now, most of the clicks on Gray's links are coming from people she knows. 'But it's growing where there are people that don't know me and might only have interest in me for certain things that I post,' she explains. She herself has followed people on social media that she first discovered on LTK, and vice versa; some are full-time content creators, others are like her, sharing commissionable links on the side, whom she wants to support. (Friends have done similar for Gray, too: 'My best friend will be like, 'Post this on your LTK, so I can buy it. I can click your link, and you get a couple of dollars.'') This personal element brings an authenticity to recommendations, one that we may no longer feel from full-time influencers once they blow up. According to Dr. Jay Sinha, associate professor at the Temple University Fox School of Business and Management, Gen Z, especially, engages with micro-influencers (accounts with between 10,000 and 100,000 followers) more than celebrities or professional influencers because they prize 'real people' who take the time to respond to questions. Plus, with Gen Z, they've grown up on the internet. 'It feels more instinctual to just share a link,' says Sinha. Sky Howard, a program manager in Washington, D.C. with around 2,000 Instagram followers, started on ShopMy and LTK as a consumer. Once she started posting more recommendations on her personal social media accounts, she realized she could take advantage of these tools, too. 'I was already sharing links with my friends directly, and with followers and other people who follow me that were genuinely interested in what I was wearing,' Howard says. 'I figured, why not make the most of the influence that I already have in a more intentional way?' Howard describes what she's earned from affiliate links as 'play money'—nice to have, but not enough to make a living. 'I'm open to the possibilities of where content creation and making money online can take me,' she adds. Lindy Segal, a New York City-based writer and editor with 4,000 Instagram followers, joined ShopMy in February 2022, through a referral from a colleague. 'As a freelancer, I'm always looking to see how I can have a side hustle,' she says. She started 'testing the waters' with beauty recommendations, but didn't actively use the platform until she launched a Substack newsletter called Gatekeeping, that now has around 2,000 subscribers, that winter. 'I always say it's a shopping-ish newsletter—there are newsletters that go out that have no shopping links at all, but then there are some that have a bunch,' Segal says. 'I wanted to have affiliate somehow.' ShopMy was the most straightforward way to incorporate commissionable links into Substack. (She's since also opened an Amazon storefront.) Segal thinks it's mostly friends who buy products through her commissionable links, but she's heard from strangers, both on Instagram and Substack, who have purchased from her as well. 'I had a friend Venmo me $10 randomly,' she says. 'She was like, 'I bought these Adidas you recommended. You deserve a kickback.'' She compares the appeal of nano- and micro-influencers to what she calls 'the original influencing': customer product reviews. 'We all read the reviews first,' she says. Howard agrees: 'People believe that they'll get the honest truth about a particular item, similar to a review on a website. I'm the type of person that will read every single review before purchasing something.' So, why not trust the review of someone you know IRL? 'For a long time, people wanted to shop through celebrities or influencers, but now, they're looking at people they know and trust,' Poulos says. Plus, at the end of the day, 'we all have influence,' adds Gray. It's just the scale that varies.
Daily Mail
18-07-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Truth about Harry and Meghan's money: Her ignominious downgrade revealed by ALISON BOSHOFF as friends tell how they're funding their $4million a year life... and why Harry might return to UK
When she started posting links on the ShopMy e-commerce site, some thought that this was going to prove an irresistible source of serious income for the Duchess of Sussex. It couldn't be easier, really – influencers link posts from their Instagram to the online shop, and then rake in a percentage of every item of clothing, make-up or homeware sold as a result.
Daily Mirror
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Meghan Markle's go-to face cream launches lighter version ‘perfect for summer'
This glow-boosting moisturiser is a cult classic – and a favourite with the Duchess of Sussex – and now a hotly-anticipated new version for oily and combination skin has just dropped Back when her Instagram account was fairly new, Meghan Markle gave fans a glimpse at some of her favourite fashion and beauty products through her ShopMy page, and one product in particular caught our eye for being a beloved by so many beauty experts: Tatcha's Dewy Skin Cream. As its name suggest, Dewy Skin Cream, £67 – which is also a long-time favourite amongst beauty editors – instantly plumps and deeply hydrates skin, and gives it a juicy, radiant look that lasts all day. It's gorgeous under make-up or if you have dry skin, however those with oily or combination skin may have previously found it a bit too rich. However, this new version is the solution. Tatcha has just launched the Dewy Milk Moisturizer into Space NK, with prices starting from £23. This new skincare product delivers the same much-loved dewy glow in a new, lighter, water-based formula that's perfect for slightly oilier skin types. Containing zinc, hyaluronic acid and green tea as well as Tatcha's iconic Japanese purple rice for hydration, Tatcha says this highly-requested new innovation helps to "balance excess oil while delivering 2x more skin bounce and a dewy, youthful-looking glow". Dewy Milk Moisturizer might also be for you if you do like the original but prefer to use a product that's a bit lighter in summer, something that a number of happy customers have been pointing out: One review titled 'Beautiful texture and perfect for summer' goes on to read: "I have combination skin, and this moisturiser works perfectly — even in the heat, it hydrates without making me oily. It gives a beautiful glow and keeps my skin feeling plump and balanced. I use it during the day and stick to the original Dewy Cream at night. Highly recommend for anyone looking for a lightweight, glowy moisturiser!" Another agreed, writing: "Tatcha Dewy Milk Moisturizer is a lighter version for the dewy cream, I prefer to use this light texture in the summer. It absorbs quickly, but gives perfect moisture and hydration. I love it is in bottle and not in a jar, more hygienic usage. I recommend for sure." A third person also loved the radiance that it gave to skin: "I love this moisturiser! It's incredibly dewy and gives my skin such a beautiful, healthy glow. I've noticed a real difference in how soft and radiant my skin looks. I highly highly recommend this to anyone looking for hydration and that extra glow!" One person, however, remarked that, despite loving Tatcha products, this one just wasn't for them. "The packaging was of course absolutely gorgeous, but the moisturiser itself was just not suited to my skin," the review reads. "The zinc left it quite sticky and it didn't sink in – it felt like I was putting on a zinc SPF, but without the SPF It also had that zinc scent too – I'm just not a zinc girlie it would seem!" If you too want to avoid zinc and are looking for some alternative (and cheaper) lightweight moisturisers for summer, we also love BYOMA Moisturising Gel Cream, currently £9.60, The INKEY List Omega Water Cream Moisturizer, currently £8.80, and Laneige Water Bank Blue Hyaluronic Acid Gel Moisturiser, £33.
Daily Mirror
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Meghan Markle's go-to Boots moisturiser ‘feels so fresh in hot summer'
This cult-favourite gel-cream moisturizer not only helps to plump and smooth the skin, but also feels amazingly refreshing in hot weather – and the Duchess of Sussex is a fan When the weather's warm, like the current heatwave we're experiencing this week, you might not feel like applying heavy serums and creams to your skin (and this might not be what your skin needs, either). Luckily, we've found a much-loved K-beauty formula now available at Boots that's perfect for this time of year – and it even gets the celebrity seal of approval. Earlier this year Meghan Markle launched a ShopMy page featuring some of her favourite fashion and beauty products. While this site has now been updated, we couldn't help but note down some of her recommendations, and one of them was Medicube Collagen Jelly Cream. Recently launched into Boots, priced at £26 for a 110ml jar, this anti-ageing cream is also available in a 50ml pot on Amazon for £14.49 at the moment. As its name suggests, Medicube's Collagen Jelly Cream really does have a consistency like jelly – bouncy and refreshing – and contains 98% of hydrolysed collagen, which the brand says "offers an anti-aging effect to improve skin elasticity". Having tried it ourselves, we can confirm that it feels lovely and cooling on hot skin; you could even keep it in the fridge for extra depuffing powers. Shoppers have also been quick to praise how useful it is in the heat, with one Amazon shopper writing: "This stuff feels so good going on, especially living in the south in the hot summer, it feels so fresh!". "I'm finding it's very nice to take a break from traditional creams and lotions, and in the hot and humid environment where I live this is a very soothing alternative moisturiser," another agreed. "I'm also pleased it has niacinamide for evening out my skin tone and of course we all want (and need - at my age!) the collagen booster this contains as well." Meanwhile a Boots customer commented on how smooth and plump it left her skin feeling: "From the first application, this gel made my skin feel hydrated and plump. Having used it for a couple of weeks, my skin feels smooth and even toned." One person, however, mentioned that the plumping effects aren't particularly long-lasting on them, writing: "Might be great for 20-something skin, but definitely not for 50-something skin. Does it temporarily make your skin look plump and glowing? Sure. But there is no real long-term benefit for skin and that plump, glowing look and feeling wears off after an hour or so, leaving your skin a bit tight and dehydrated." If your skin is on the drier or more mature side, you might benefit from a more 'traditional' moisturiser such as something like Medik8 Total Moisture Daily Facial Cream, £48. Other hot weather skincare buys to consider this summer include Milk Makeup's new Cooling Water Jelly Ice, £28, Garnier Hyaluronic Acid Cryo Jelly Face Mask, currently £3.33, and the Brushworks Ice Roller, £11.99.
