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What are Branded Storefronts for Creators?
Branded storefronts for creators are bespoke, personalized eComm pages that enable brands to leverage the power of a creator’s voice and authenticity.
Branded storefronts typically feature curations and collections of the creator’s favorite products from the brand. Most also contain user-generated content (UGC) like ‘get ready with me’, OOTD, looks, hauls, unboxings and more.
The ultimate goal of Branded storefronts is to deliver an unparalleled social commerce experience natively on eCommerce. This then boosts session lengths, conversion rates, and average order values for the brand.
Why do Influencer & Affiliate Programs Need Branded Storefronts?
Gen Z and the Rise of Social Traffic to eCommerce
Social media and influencer marketing are becoming increasingly important sources of traffic for eCommerce sites. The trends are clear, consumers are spending more time on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, and more importantly, the platforms are inspiring far more purchases.
For Gen Z, these trends are even more pronounced, with 92% of Gen Z adults crediting influencer recommendations as the most important driver of purchases.
But eCommerce brands have a big problem. Despite all of this traffic and importance, on average, social media traffic does not convert relative to other channels. And it is getting worse (down 20% in 2022).
The disconnect is the eCommerce shopping journey. On social media, people are discovering products and getting inspired by influencers, affiliates, and customers. No one searches for “shoes” on Instagram, you discover a pair of shoes from someone you are following. Creators drive traffic and provide inspiration.
However, when someone is inspired by a creator and lands on the eCommerce site, the context completely changes. No longer is the consumer delighted with a creator-centric experience (which is why they are there). Instead, the consumer has to shift context and begin shopping by product categories. The results speak for themselves.
This challenge is not unique to just social media and influencer traffic. With conversion rates of .5 – 1%, affiliate traffic suffers the same challenge. When you discover a product via an affiliate channel, the link provided often guides the user to a generic, non-personalized experience.
Far too many conversion opportunities are being wasted on legacy shopping experiences that don’t compliment their traffic source.
Branded Storefronts as the Solution for Creator Traffic
That’s the problem that we’ve solved with branded storefronts for creators. It focuses on creating a more relevant shopping experience for social media, influencer, and affiliate traffic.
Each creator that is driving traffic will receive their own customizable page (as opposed to a generic link) which includes their profile, content that they’ve created, and favorite products. A shopping experience that is tailored uniquely to their audience.
The result is a triple win:
- It radically improves conversion rates for traffic generated through creators. Our research suggests brands have experienced 3.24% average conversion rates, which is 4 times the industry average.
- It drives up the AOV (average order value) for consumers, since they want to shop all of the creator’s picks. Shopify cites that product bundles can increase AOV by 60%, so letting creators build product bundles radically scales a powerful conversion tools.
- It creates tremendous excitement and alignment with the creator. Leader to greater creator retention. What is cooler than having your own storefront on the brand’s site?
Which Creators or Customers Should Get an Influencer Storefront?
These branded storefronts are radically improving conversions from social traffic… so who should be using them?
- Influencers and affiliates – anyone that brands give an affiliate link or code is losing conversions from a conversion funnel that doesn’t align with the creator. They will convert more with their own page (and drive more traffic when they feel more aligned with the brand).
- Brand ambassadors and micro-influencers – Perhaps the highest potential segment that needed branded storefronts. These individuals have extremely high conversion rates based on their smaller, hyper-focused audiences. And they will be more excited than anyone to have real-estate on an eCommerce site.
- Customers and brand advocates – Unless the brand wants to open these storefronts to general traffic, the only way to end up on a branded storefront is to click a unique link. Cutting edge brands find that there is no downside to offering every single customer their own storefront. It builds alignment and engagement with the brand… and although many customers will not drive meaningful traffic, it still allows them to curate their favorite products and share them with their friends. Word of mouth marketing and loyalty marketing baked into one.
Examples of Branded Storefronts for Creators
Branded Storefronts in the Wild
Some of the largest DTC brands and retailers have built a home-grown solution for giving creators branded storefronts.
Influencer Storefronts on Amazon
Amazon has shifted a large part of its affiliate business to the Amazon Influencer Program. They are solving the same problem with social traffic. Given the wild success of the program, they’ve grown it to include hundreds of thousands of influencers.
In 2024, Alix Earle promoted her Influencer Storefront as part of Amazon’s Prime Day campaign.
Creator Storefronts on Target
Target offers influencers their own personal storefront to refer to in UGC. Creators earn commissions on sales that involve their storefront link.
In 2023, Target frequently featured its best creator storefronts throughout its BFCM and holiday marketing materials.
Branded Storefronts on Fabletics
Fabletics maintains a dedicated page for its branded storefronts, dubbed the ‘Influencer Hot List’. Fabletics maintains a rotating selection of branded storefronts using the voice and branding of well-known macro and mega-influencers.
Branded Storefronts Powered by LoudCrowd
Creator Storefronts on boohoo
On a boohoo.com Creator Storefront, influencers will be able to curate whole collections/edits/looks easily. They can choose products from pre-selected options from the boohoo team, or navigate through the entire website to choose the products.
On top of that, boohoo storefront creators can create shoppable UGC by tagging products in content directly from their storefront. See the below example of shoppable UGC on a boohoo branded storefront.
Ambassador Storefronts on Melinda Maria
The Melinda Maria Ambassador Program has hundreds of very passionate creators. Each creator is given their own branded storefront on melindamaria.com. The storefront is central to conversation and collaboration amongst the creators. The program generates hundreds of thousands of dollars in eComm revenue per year.
Influencer Storefronts on ColourPop
ColourPop is amongst the leading beauty brands pioneering branded storefronts for its influencers. ColourPop provides its influencer makeup artists a branded storefront.
Conclusion
Branded storefronts represent the newest social commerce solution for DTC eCommerce brands looking to grow through influencers, creators, and customers. Branded storefronts solve a key issue with the social media to eCommerce funnel – context shifting.
By leveraging the power of a creator’s voice, authenticity, and knowledge of their followers, branded storefronts boost conversion rates, average order values, and retention.
Every DTC eCommerce brand should be providing branded storefronts to its influencers, creators, affiliates, or customers. LoudCrowd can empower any eCommerce brand to deliver an enterprise-grade, white-label branded storefront experience in as little as hours.
Learn more here.
