ShopStyle launches tool to monetise Snapchat

ShopStyle, the e-commerce and affiliate platform used by brands and bloggers, has found a way to make Snapchat shoppable, by introducing a companion app that enables users to screenshot what they want to buy.

Using Emoticode, brands and bloggers are able to make photos and snaps linkable by converting URLs into shortened links using emojis and alpha-numeric characters in captions or comments. Once a fan screenshots the snap or picture and opens the resulting image in the Emoticode app it decodes them into clickable links.

Basically, the patent-pending technology is an affiliate link programme, a workaround for apps that do not allow links directly, not just Snapchat, but can also be used in Instagram. The idea is to help brands stimulate sales and engagement, with brands including Uniqlo, Nordstrom, and Sephora being among the launch partners.

It doesn’t seem easy to make a sale or buy something, it is similar to other existing third-party social shopping apps for Instagram already out there that seem to take the long way round, but it is a workable hack. For this app to work, followers and fans first need to download the Emoticode enabled apps.

ShopStyle launches Emoticode app to allow users to shop Snapchat

“It was clear that people wanted to take action from our snaps and it wasn’t as easy as it could be. The lightbulb went off,” PopSugar’s CEO, Brian Sugar, told Digiday. “It works for shopping. It will work for recipes, workouts, articles, really anything you want to engage more with beyond a snap or an Instagram post.”

Snapchat is a difficult social media platform, especially if you are a brand looking to push digital sales, it is more candid than beautiful like Instagram, it isn’t as shareable as Facebook, and you don’t attract as many followers as you do on Twitter, plus it isn’t as easy to even find out how many followers you have. But, it is a growing platform especially for young people, with more than 100 million daily active users who watch 8 billion videos per day, according to ShopStyle, which now can be made shoppable.

The Emoticode, which always starts with a Snapchat ghost and rocket emojis, doesn’t have to be used for affiliate purposes, they can link to any URL, so this app can help brands and retailers drive traffic to their websites or other social media channels, where the call to sale can be easier placed.

The app has been released as an iOS mobile app and is also available on the ShopStyle and ShopStyle Collective apps in the US, UK, Australia, Germany, and France.

Image: ShopStyle