In the crowded world of social media, brands must constantly search for new ways to stand out and connect with their audience. While standard creator partnerships have become more common, affiliate marketing offers an often overlooked opportunity.
Commonly used by e-commerce giants like Amazon and Walmart, affiliate marketing allows creators to earn commissions through unique links or codes that track sales. Yet, despite affiliate marketing’s potential, it’s often seen as transactional and low-end, with a primary focus on immediate sales.
However, platforms like ShopMy are leading the charge in changing that perception. By leveraging sophisticated AI, ShopMy is turning affiliate marketing into a powerful tool for driving sales and increasing awareness among hard-to-reach audiences willing to spend at higher prices. More importantly, ShopMy’s data-driven approach offers brands a new performance-based strategy that builds a trifecta of benefits: sales, awareness, and prestige.
The ShopMy Story: A Performance-Driven Platform for Creators and Brands
Tiffany Lopinsky, Harry Rein, and Chris Tinsley founded ShopMy in 2020 to address a significant gap in the creator economy. Extensive research revealed a critical problem: brands often selected creators based on surface-level metrics like follower count, with little reliable data to gauge their ability to drive sales. Additionally, brands faced challenges managing creator gifting, tracking results, and maintaining communications.
On the creator side, restrictions limited them to featuring only commissionable products, preventing creators from fully curating selections aligned with their style and audience. This imbalance was a key challenge for both parties.
ShopMy’s research-driven approach led to creating a platform that allows creators to act more like sophisticated retailers. With the freedom to feature a broader range of products—including non-commissionable items—creators can better align their selections with their audience’s interests. ShopMy provides critical data for brands to identify creators who can drive awareness and convert that interest into actual purchasing power.
ShopMy’s platform goes well beyond the typical e-commerce experience; presenting products in a sophisticated, aesthetically modern style that feels like a fashion layout or high-end catalogue. Creators using the platform have digital storefronts linking to their selections, offering an elevated experience that matches the quality of the products they showcase. By offering creators commission rates of 20% or more, the platform incentivizes creators to curate products they genuinely value.
ShopMy in Action: Fashion Icon Jenna Lyons’ “Closet Staples”
A prime example of ShopMy’s different approach is fashion icon Jenna Lyons. Former president and creative director of J. Crew and star of Real Housewives of New York City, Lyons—once dubbed “the woman who dresses America” has her own ShopMy personal store called “Closet Staples.”
Lyons showcases products including $1,490 combat boots from The Row and a $3,900 Khaite crystal-embellished blazer to $300 Toteme jeans. Her curated collection captures the attention and wallets of discerning shoppers who respect Lyons’ taste and would have been unlikely to purchase from larger e-commerce giants.
Lopinsky explains, “The brands on ShopMy are getting a lot of value and reaching new audiences while creating a distributed sales force.” This model has proven highly effective. Lopinsky shares, “One of our brands said, ‘Our partnership with ShopMy is doing 2x the ROAS of our next best channel.’” Additionally, ShopMy has creators who have earned over $1 million in commissions, showing the platform’s capability to foster lucrative relationships for creators and brands alike.
Today, ShopMy drives $1 million in daily transactions. It features over 70,000 highly vetted creators and thousands of brands, including Neiman Marcus, Hugo Boss, Jenni Kayne, Chanel, and Net-a-Porter. Notable creators like Alix Earle, Marlien Rentmeester, Hannah Bronfman, Molly Sims, and Lyons showcase their personal recommendations.
Mosha Lundström Halbert, an acclaimed Vogue journalist and creator of the fashion news TikTok channel “NewsFash,” highlights this shift: “Creators today have become the modern version of fashion magazines and retailers. They are real competition to more conventional forms of media.
In the past, people would turn to retail stores and fashion publications for education and inspiration about their style and shopping choices. This is no longer the case.” Lundström continues: “What ShopMy is offering allows creators to take a little bit more of their power back and say, ‘This is actually what I like,’ without being incentivized in a narrow way to push certain products.”
Takeaways: The Evolving Role of Fashion Brands and Retail
Creators as the New Retailers: Creators are taking on the role of merchandise curators, similar to how high-end retailers used to guide consumers in discovering new products. Brands must now integrate creator partnerships into their retail strategies to stay relevant. Retailers could explore the idea of featuring creator “shop-in-shops” that showcase online collections in-store, offering a fresh way to bridge digital and physical retail experiences.
Direct-to-Consumer Approach: The traditional retail role must adapt as creators offer trusted recommendations directly to their followers. Physical stores now act more as experiential venues than primary sales points. Brands can use these spaces to host intimate gatherings, exclusive fittings, or opportunities for customers to meet fashion enthusiasts and creators at cultural events, creating memorable and engaging experiences that connect with shoppers on a personal level.
Retailers as a Simplified Touchpoint: Retailers have the opportunity to streamline the buying process, making it easier and more convenient for consumers. By collaborating with creators, they can gather valuable shopper insights, improve service offerings, and simplify decision-making, enhancing in-store and online shopping experiences.
A New Era for Affiliate Marketing
ShopMy is redefining affiliate marketing as a strategic tool that builds sales, long-term customer relationships, and brand prestige. By leveraging AI and focusing on proven performance, ShopMy offers a more innovative way to navigate the creator economy, moving beyond traditional influencer marketing toward a more measurable, mutually beneficial partnership.
In today’s competitive market, standing out requires more than facilitating transactions. Brands must find new audiences and select partners who can deliver real value. ShopMy’s approach teaches marketers an essential lesson: it’s time to rethink affiliate marketing and embrace this new era of performance-based collaborations