The way consumers discover and shop for brands has drastically evolved in the past ten years, with commerce no longer dictated by retailers, ads, or search engines. Rather, social commerce has taken the central stage, shaping consumer behavior and creating space for new interactions, led by content creators.

Now, beyond traditional social media platforms, a new type of channel blending social media and commerce is booming. Influencer marketing platforms like LTK and ShopMy have democratized affiliate marketing and are expanding to become social selling powerhouses, turning influencers into storefronts and shaping the future of digital commerce.

The Rise of Affiliate and Influencer Marketing

Affiliate and influencer marketing are not new to brand marketers. The first has existed for decades and was traditionally associated with tracked links placed by bloggers in articles or review sites, while influencer marketing exploded with the rise of social media, mainly in the form of paid sponsorships, driven by views, posts, and follower count. While affiliate marketing remained a niche practice, influencer marketing quickly went mainstream—yet it often left consumers questioning authenticity and brands struggling to measure tangible ROI.

That’s where LTK (formerly LikeToKnow), the pioneer of a new type of social commerce platform, entered the scene, followed by ShopMy in 2020. Both quickly revolutionized how creators, brands, and consumers engage.

Founded in 2011, LTK is the pioneer of modern influencer marketing, or what it now refers to as "creator commerce." It quickly became a destination for curated, influencer-led shopping where content creators (both micro and macro) could monetize their content and collaborate with thousands of brands and retailers integrated onto the platform. In 2021, the company raised $300 million at a $2 billion valuation. It has quickly grown to become the largest creator monetization platform, powering $5 billion in annual retail sales in 2024.

LTK currently has a network of 150,000+ creators, 8,000 retailers, 1 million brands, and 40+ million monthly shoppers, establishing it as a sizable social commerce channel with tremendous potential for brands and content creators alike.

Another player shaping the future of creator commerce is ShopMy. Launched in 2020 by MIT students, it has also gained considerable traction as a creator-led platform featuring shoppable content through curated digital shops, with a strong focus on affiliate links. The company raised $77.5 million earlier this year, with ambitions to turn affiliate marketing into a core pillar of every brand’s marketing strategy. The investment values ShopMy at a $410 million valuation and will fuel the company’s expansion beyond fashion and beauty and grow its advertiser base internationally.

Currently, the platform has fewer brand partnerships than LTK, but is focused on expanding beyond its core categories. Compared to its competitor, ShopMy is focused on personalized storefronts while LTK offers more functionalities with a strong focus on video content. In fact, video is the fastest-growing content format on LTK, driving deeper engagement and conversion.

Overall, what makes these relatively new platforms so successful is their ability to streamline the shopping experience, removing friction between discovery and purchase for consumers. At the same time, they represent a lucrative opportunity for creators to monetize their content with relatively low barriers to entry.

With beauty being the second-largest category on LTK and a top category for ShopMy as well, brands in the beauty space have a lot to gain from engaging with these emerging channels. Among LTK’s most loved shopper favorites across all categories in 2024 was Summer Friday’s Dream Lip Oil, and the platform now counts e.l.f. Beauty, Rare Beauty, Tarte, Kiehl's, Sephora, and many more as beauty partners. A range of both premium and luxury beauty brands have also hurried to partner with ShopMy, including Crown Affair, Drunk Elephant, rhode, Byredo, Deciem, Westman Atelier, and many more.

Blurring the Lines Between Social Media and E-Commerce

Creator commerce is reshaping digital commerce as we know it, due to its ability to bridge the gap between content and conversion or discovery and purchase in a way retailers, advertisers, or brands haven’t been able to before. It places content creators at the heart of the path-to-purchase, redefining how consumers discover and engage with brands.

Whether it’s on an Instagram Story, TikTok Comment, link in bio, or through these platforms’ apps, influencers share brands and products as an extension of themselves and their lifestyles, helping build trust and authenticity. Indeed, product placement is achieved more organically compared to sponsored posts: creators share their beauty routines, snippets of their day, or simply launch Q&As with their audience and naturally get asked about what clothes they’re wearing, the face mask they’re using, or what decor item is in the video background. As a result, many creators share products that stem directly from consumer interest, which feels more authentic than a sponsored post.

“We built a powerful ecosystem driven by trust and community,” Ally Anderson, Senior Director of Strategy and Insights at LTK, told BeautyMatter.

On top of the seamless app experience, trust and authenticity are therefore fundamental elements that make this model appealing to creators, consumers, and brands equally.

“The more audiences engage in the lives of our creators, the more influence they have because ultimately, what they are selling is trust," said Anderson. "To create that trust and bond with their community, they have to post content beyond focusing on just products and reliably reach their community. We are tripling down on trust, which is what fuels the creator economy."

“This is especially important now, as social media reach continues to decline and creators struggle to connect with their audiences, which also impacts brands,” she added.

Betsi Blonigan, Director of Brand and Influencer Marketing at Public Goods, a sustainable home and personal care brand, echoed this sentiment. “The focus is on creators who build real trust with their audiences and can directly influence purchase decisions," she said. "Influencer partnerships are now expected to deliver measurable business outcomes, not just brand impressions.”

From Influence to Tangible Retail Impact

As the creator economy continues to blend social media and retail, the shopping journey is becoming significantly smaller. Creators have become retailers and ShopMy or LTK their storefronts. Brand awareness, engagement, and purchase happen almost instantaneously, driven by engagement and recommendations that are curated and trusted. This implies brands can immediately build deeper consumer trust thanks to influencers’ real-life product endorsements, offering access to valuable new customers.

Creator commerce is not only simplifying the path-to-purchase; it is also helping brands access new audiences and concretely measure the impact of creator recommendations and endorsements. Under one roof, these tech-driven companies give brands the ability to track and analyze creator performance with brand mentions, clicks, order volume, and trackable sales data.

“Platforms like ShopMy and LTK give brands clear visibility into which creators are driving traffic and conversions, whether to their site or retail partners, offering a level of transparency that traditional influencer marketing often lacked. These platforms don’t just track clicks, they prove who’s driving revenue, turning creator partnerships from a guessing game into a measurable sales channel,” says Blonigan.

This tangible marketing model makes it undoubtedly worthwhile for brands to invest in. Speaking from her influencer marketing experience on the brand side, Blonigan believes that brands should view affiliate platforms as a core sales channel.

"It’s important to build long-term partnerships with creators who have proven they can drive conversion, not just engagement," she said. "Successful brands are proactive in equipping creators with tools like early access, education, and exclusive offers that make their recommendations feel authentic and valuable. Managing these platforms strategically allows brands to shift from paying for visibility to investing in true revenue drivers.”

Liam Scott, Director of Creator Commerce at Maison MRKT, a digital marketing agency that focuses on growth marketing and customer acquisition for beauty and luxury brands, agrees with Blonigan's perspective. “Creator and affiliate strategies should no longer be seen as an add-on to traditional marketing, but a standalone channel that requires activation and strategic guidance in order to compete in today's e-commerce space," he said.

Recently, helping his clients familiarize themselves with affiliate marketing has become a priority for Scott, and has led to the agency’s partnership with ShopMy, given the tangible results this platform can deliver.

"We frame creator and affiliate programs in terms of their measurable ROI, inclusive of all expenses, not just in terms of awareness or reach metrics," he said. "For many of our clients, the results show that even though the scale is sometimes smaller since the program is newer, the ROI is comparable or exceeds that of traditional marketing channels like paid social or paid search."

While ShopMy is focused on growing as a modern affiliate marketing channel, LTK has broader ambitions. Today, nearly 40% of US adult Gen Z and millennial women use LTK, and the company is moving further into becoming a social channel, not just a shopping destination.

“We rebuilt the LTK app from the ground up this year to deliver on what consumers want and what creators need in this new era—connection, discovery, and a seamless way to engage with content,” Anderson told BeautyMatter.

For brands, the message is clear: creator commerce is no longer niche, but a booming lucrative channel with cultural relevance and measurable returns.