Click:Diffuser Bottles
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.
“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