Shopping app Flip tries to popularize social commerce with referral giveaways
“Use my referral”… your friend sending you a $75 Flip gift card. A fast-growing app has climbed the App Store charts recently, becoming a top 10 shopping app. If Amazon and TikTok had a baby, it might look like Flip. The social-shopping platform features a TikTok-like feed dedicated to product reviews by regular users, plus a shopping tab.
Brands that sell on Flip include Milk Cosmetics, Pat McGrath, Goop, and E.l.f. While it skews toward beauty, Flip also offers clothing, household goods, and gadgets.
Network effect: Flip launched in 2019, but its recent growth has been fueled by generous referral credits. The more contacts you have on Flip, the more $$ you can get when someone refers you. Sometimes it’s as much as $130 in discounts.
Engagement can pay: Users can get paid for posting product reviews and earn rewards for engaging with or viewing content. Flip takes a cut of all sales, and says it doesn’t charge brands to join its app.
Tried and still not true… Social commerce is huge in Asia thanks to superapps like Tencent’s WeChat and Pinduoduo. But it hasn’t taken off in the US, despite several tries. Meta scaled back its social-commerce push, including removing Instagram’s Shop tab. In September, ByteDance launched TikTok Shop in the US, but results have been meh. The solution might lie in social and ecomm giants teaming up instead of trying to compete:
Amazon + Meta: Last week Amazon announced it was partnering with Meta to let customers shop from Instagram and FB ads using their Amazon checkout info, without leaving their social feeds. Amazon agreed to a similar deal with Snap.
Traction doesn’t always = retention… Flip’s growing fast thanks to hefty discounts, but those are pricey, especially for a company that’s raised just $95M. Splurging on growth only pays off when you can eventually gain enough momentum to turn a profit. Flip said it’s preparing to raise a larger round, which would give it more runway. But the true test’ll be if it can keep users when the giveaways dry up — or risk going the way of MoviePass.