Linktree surpasses 50M users, rolls out its social commerce program to more creators
Link-in-bio startup Linktree said on Wednesday that it has surpassed 50 million users.
The figure represents a significant uptick from the 2.7 million users the company had in 2019. The company has been growing consistently, adding nearly 10 million users (or Linkers, as Linktree calls them) in the span of just five months: In December, the company told TechCrunch that it had 41 million users, and it reported over 47 million users this March.
Linktree is considered one of the top link-in-bio tools on the market, with its rivals owning a significantly smaller portion of the pie: competitor Later has around 7 million users, whereas Beacons has more than 2 million.
“It’s astounding to see the scale we’ve reached by being Linker-first — now empowering more than 50 million Linkers with a space that they own, to grow and monetize,” Linktree's co-founder and CEO, Alex Zaccaria, said in a statement to TechCrunch.
The company said it is also launching the beta of its social commerce offering. The new program, which was in alpha back in March, lets creators add storefronts to their link-in-bio pages and take a 12% to 15% commission on sales. All users will be able to apply to join the program later this year.
The experiment initially launched with a few brands (Revolve, Sephora and Urban Outfitters) and was only available to a few creators. Starting today, Linktree is opening it up to more users and has added over 2,000 brands, including Adidas, Lululemon, New Balance and Net-a-Porter. Creators can access a huge product catalog featuring thousands of items that they can highlight on their storefronts.
The company also added a new feature in tandem with the beta launch: Users can now upload user-generated content to promote relevant content from their social media accounts alongside recommended products.
Linktree’s social commerce offering could prove helpful to influencers, as it gives them the means to effectively monetize their audience. The global market for social commerce is predicted to reach $1.2 trillion by 2025, according to Accenture.
“The goal of the program is to supercharge the organic social commerce activity we’re seeing on-platform, making this easier for both Linkers and brands,” Lara Cohen, Linktree's vice president of brand development, told TechCrunch. “We estimate that Linkers are driving upwards of $6 billion in annual [gross merchandise value] via their Linktrees already. We want to reduce friction and increase conversion by cutting down the number of clicks required to make a purchase, and enabling customers to discover the products that Linkers love directly on their Linktrees.”
The new program is indicative of Linktree's intention to evolve into a more versatile service with more revenue streams.
Linktree had over 240 million commerce clicks from links in the past month, converting to approximately $300 million in monthly commerce sales, a company spokesperson said, citing proprietary data.
https://techcrunch.com/2023/12/14/linktree-acquires-link-in-bio-platform-koji-in-its-second-investment-of-the-year
Linktree has come a long way since its inception in 2016, and is today used by everyone from part-time content creators to celebrities like Demi Lovato, Paris Hilton and Robert Downey Jr. Even The White House uses the link-in-bio solution to direct U.S. citizens to online resources.
The company also made significant investments in the past year, acquiring two smaller startups in the link-in-bio space, Koji and Bento. Linktree declined to comment about what it plans to do with both platforms.
But it hasn't all been smooth sailing. In June 2023, Linktree laid off 27% of its workforce, seeing many employees in Australia and New Zealand let go from the company. In a memo to staff, Zaccaria said the layoffs would help Linktree shift its focus to furthering growth in the U.S., the company’s largest market. The layoffs followed a round of cuts in 2022, which saw 17% of staff let go.
Linktree has raised more than $165 million in funding to date and is valued at more than $1 billion.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/19/linktree-is-now-allowing-users-to-highlight-links-better-with-featured-layout-function
