LinkBy is the uprising platform in Taiwan that aims to reform transactional experiences on social. We convert creators' passion into income by connecting product sources, creators, and fans.
role
product leadership
product design
user research
team
gary chen, engineering lead
ball chen, engineer
ben wang, engineer
cindy huang, product designer
anau wu, operations
rosemary chao, business
johann liu, business
problem
Nowadays, there is an increasing number of creators on social platforms generating engaging content. They are game-changers, trendsetters, thought leaders, and most importantly, they connect millions of people with creativity. However, passion does not guarantee income, which leads us to wonder – "how might we help creators make more money without depriving them of their time and effort to create entertaining content?"
Selling products or merch through creative content is one of the proven-successful approaches. However, most creators are not e-commerce experts; it has been painful for them to decide what products they should sell, set up their e-commerce websites, handle the logistics, etc.
Aside from the demanding process, there is also the problem of power imbalance. Existing solutions often emphasize product sources/brands rather than creators. Brands have total control over how the creators should promote and sell the product, leaving little space in the process for content makers to insert their creativity.
To Empower and Connect
LinkBy is an internet platform that establishes the connection between trustworthy product sources, creators, and fans. The platform distinguishes itself from the competition by design: we empower and connect. The prime users are fitness coaches, yoga instructors, mom bloggers, YouTubers, celebrities, etc.
As Lightweight as Possible
Traditional e-commerce builders provide an extensive and customizable set of features. Seemingly helpful, these complicated features produce a large mental load for creators, burdening them when crafting their e-commerce websites.
Seeing such an overkill, we design Linkby to be as lightweight as possible, reducing excessive steps and decisions needed for creators.
Solutions:
- Ready-to-use templates to help creators establish their e-commerce website within 10 minutes
- Contextual information to facilitate decision-making when creators are sourcing products to sell
LinkBy breaks down the complex online-store-establishing process to steps easy to follow and complete; furthermore, LinkBy guides creators through the process with on-boardings.
Contextualizing Products with Social Content
LinkBy differentiates itself from existing e-commerce solutions through its "social" factor. We maximize creators' capability of driving sales by contextualizing products with creative social content.
Solutions:
- Surfacing products with creators' content, rather than monotonous product images, to help fans easily envision how they can utilize the product post-purchase
- Connecting creators' e-commerce websites with their social presence, enabling a seamless shopping experience – from seeing creators' content to placing an order – for fans
Personalizing Shopping Experiences at Scale
Every fan wants to have a shopping experience that is "just for me." And they should have one. Furthermore, we believe that such personal touch is what elevates fans' satisfaction and loyalty towards creators.
Hence, we design LinkBy to support personalizing shopping experiences for every fan at scale.
Solutions:
- Effortlessly manage and control fans' access to hundreds of "Private Shops"
- Tailor shopping experience for each fan by adding personalized shop onboardings
LinkBy's simple interface helps creators manage shops personalized for fans, such as controlling the access, customizing the appearance and descriptions, and analyzing the performance.
On the Rise
As of January 2021, most features in this vision have been released, with some still in development. Furthermore, within just two months of platform launch, LinkBy served more than 500 personal trainers, yoga instructors, and creators: helping them converting passion to income.
Thriving in the social commerce scene, LinkBy was featured by GQ Taiwan in February 2021.