Traditional retailers have long competed with one another to offer shoppers the best personalized customer experience. Now, affiliate-driven social shopping platforms have entered the race and raised the stakes. 

Though programs like LTK have been around since the mid-2010s, social shopping has gained popularity in recent years, thanks to the emergence of an influencer-driven e-commerce economy. Content creators and peers are swaying how and what consumers buy. Instead of spending hours scrolling through websites to find clothes they like, customers can now shop the exact pieces their favorite influencers wear via commissionable links. In other words, affiliate platforms have transformed individuals’ closets into shoppable digital storefronts. 

Naturally, new tech solutions have emerged, such as ShopMy and Amazon Storefront, to cater to this phenomenon. 

Related: Affiliate Platforms See Substackers and Micro-Influencers As Their Biggest Opportunity

ShopMy’s latest update directly reflects this evolved preference for hyper-personalized purchases: On Wednesday, the creator marketing company launched Circles: a consumer shopping platform that offers suggestions to users based on who they follow, as an alternative to impersonal, software-driven recommendations.

“Our tagline is ‘Curated by the obsessed, not the algorithm,’ and ‘Shop the recommendations of the world’s most trusted curators,” Harry Rein, co-founder and CEO of ShopMy, tells Fashionista. “When you think holistically, [this update] is a fundamentally different approach to product discovery focused on human recommendations and taste and not algorithmic feeds. In the same way that there are various forms of shopping, such as a hunt-style [approach] where you’re trying to get exactly what you want, this is more about celebrating the discovery and sharing of things you’ve found — a more playful and enjoyable form of shopping.”

Prior to this launch, ShopMy only offered consumers the ability to buy items directly through the recommendations of individuals. Circles now allows them to make an account and essentially build and shop from their own multi-creator storefront, tailored to their tastes based on the accounts they follow. The new page is also more filterable: Visitors can narrow their search to specific brands or styles.

“If I’m looking for a clutch and I want it to be an investment piece, I could search ‘timeless clutch’ or use the filters,”  Tiffany Lopinsky, co-founder and president of ShopMy, explains.

For first-time users, ShopMy will automatically create a storefront based on popular creators. Over time, it will curate a page based on the people users follow. “We’re giving you these Circles to give you ideas, but I think the real power in it and what the repeat behavior will be is that you can make your own Circle,” Lopinsky continues.

The new shopping tool favors creators and brands as much as it does consumers: For the former, it increases the likelihood of their recommendations reaching new customers so that they ultimately earn more commission, consistently. Meanwhile, brands benefit by gaining access to a network of thoughtful, high-intent shoppers, and they also receive performance insights via authentic product reviews. 

In the long run, Lopinsky and Rein hope that ShopMy’s tailored, multi-brand, multi-creator store page resonates with consumers who prioritize intentional shopping. 

“One of our huge intentions is not to be transactional — ‘come here, buy something, leave,'” Rein says. “We’re trying to move more slowly, methodically and build your taste profile gradually over time. In the long term, we aim to be the only place you shop to discover new products.”

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