Shopify Unveils ‘Collabs,’ a Platform Designed to Financially Empower Solo Creators

The total size of the creator economy is estimated to be worth over $100 billion. And yet most creators struggle to financial independence, or even to generate income at all.

Shopify wants to amplify solo creators through its latest feature, Collabs.

As a solo creator, discovering brands and establishing partnerships is cumbersome, and creators would rather spend their time doing what they love—engaging with their audiences,” Shopify explains. And for merchants, the creator economy presents a new way to find new consumers, at a time when acquiring customers has become increasingly difficult and expensive. Creators “are trusted by audiences who look to them to share product recommendations they know they’ll love.”

Through Shopify Collabs, creators can discover merchants, build curated shops, and share products that reflect their own interests, accelerating a path to entrepreneurship. Creators partner with merchants and use Linkpop, Shopify’s free link in bio tool built for commerce, to curate and share, the company says.

“Shopify is where the world’s best independent brands go to build their businesses,” says Amir Kabbara, Director of Product, Shopify. “With Shopify Collabs, we’re making it simple for creators to discover and partner with these brands so they can make more money and reach economic independence.”

In the future, Kabbara says Collabs “will be fully integrated with Shopify, giving creators access to more parts of our platform and accelerating their journey as entrepreneurs.”

Shopify’s goal is to bring economic independence to this new generation of entrepreneurs—while also benefiting merchants.

“For Shopify merchants, Collabs is a new way to find potential customers at a time when it’s never been more difficult or expensive,” Kabbara said. “By giving merchants the ability to discover and partner with creators that align with their brand, they can tap into the power of community-driven commerce to reach consumers in new and meaningful ways.”

The storied Ottawa tech anchor recently let go of 1,000 employees, part of a broader market-wide downshift.