Shopify rolls out Linkpop for social commerce and other updates for marketers

Today, Shopify introduces Linkpop, a link-in-bio tool that allows creators and followers to quickly get to promoted products and buy them. Creators on social media platforms like Instagram add the Linkpop link to their bio, and in one click their followers are taken to a storefront powered by Shopify.

Once users click on the link, they are taken to a curated selection of products and can purchase directly on Linkpop, without having to leave the social media app they are on. This way, consumers don’t have to search for products in another environment, and marketers will have a better idea of the impact the creator had on the sale.

Why we care. Not only are social platforms a source of product recommendations from trusted friends and family, but they are also a hub for influencers and creators with deeply-engaged followings. Over the last year, Shopify has stepped up its partnerships to become a go-to source for commerce on TikTok and to make creator content more shoppable. For brands, Instagram launched Shopify shoppable posts in 2018.

For marketers the social commerce playbook is also expanding, as social marketing tools integrate with commerce-ready social platforms.

Updates for marketers. Separately, this week, Shopify has introduced several tools to aid marketers on the platform.

A new predictive spend tier feature, for example, allows marketers to categorize customers’ spending potential according to three categories or tiers – high, medium or low.

Segmentation. The predictive spend tier is a filter for the new customer segmentation tool. Other segments include geographic location, the number of orders a customer has placed and other unique behaviors.

For marketers, the customer segmentation tool replaces customers’ saved searches. Existing saved searches are migrated into the new segments tool.

Automated email campaigns. Marketers now can also automate their email campaigns to Shopify customers. Users are given a choice of email templates and can also create their own workflow for creating and scheduling emails.

In a related move, Shopify announced that marketers can send up to 10,000 emails for free per month, using the Shopify Email service.

About The Author

Chris Wood

Chris Wood draws on over 15 years of reporting experience as a B2B editor and journalist. At DMN, he served as associate editor, offering original analysis on the evolving marketing tech landscape. He has interviewed leaders in tech and policy, from Canva CEO Melanie Perkins, to former Cisco CEO John Chambers, and Vivek Kundra, appointed by Barack Obama as the country's first federal CIO. He is especially interested in how new technologies, including voice and blockchain, are disrupting the marketing world as we know it. In 2019, he moderated a panel on "innovation theater" at Fintech Inn, in Vilnius. In addition to his marketing-focused reporting in industry trades like Robotics Trends, Modern Brewery Age and AdNation News, Wood has also written for KIRKUS, and contributes fiction, criticism and poetry to several leading book blogs. He studied English at Fairfield University, and was born in Springfield, Massachusetts. He lives in New York.