#258 - Pontus Karlsson, Off Script: The Future of Creators, Brands, & Marketplaces

On this episode of DTC POD, Pontus joins Blaine to take an in-depth look at the world of ecommerce platforms and the players driving these marketplaces. We discuss the pros and cons of starting a brand, solving for inventory management, distributed sales and more. We also explore the potential of creating a platform-agnostic approach to creator led commerce, existing infrastructure, legacy solutions, opportunities for brands to leverage creator distribution, simplifying collaborations for creators, and more on where the industry is headed.

Timestamps

[00:02:39] Creator commerce rapidly growing; enablers of starting own brands; marketplace builders and enablers; decentralization, social curation, transparency, financial rewards.

[00:07:20] Social-centric commerce enabled through Shopify, dropshipping of modern retail products.

[00:11:08] Drop shipping, marketplaces, and curated marketplaces are terms used to describe online retailing.

[00:13:35] Pontus started with interest in retail, studied Business and Business of Fashion, then worked in management consulting and start up accelerator incubator, Anther, leading to current project, Offscript.

[00:16:06] Started with scrappy ecommerce for influencers, built integrations for ecommerce platforms, focused on working with creators to build marketplaces.

[00:21:13] Build marketplace with decentralized user acquisition and existing integration to supply side or brands for network effects; single platform for storefront and marketplace technology for virality.

[00:23:07] Marketplace Connectors: connect brands to other ecommerce platforms, such as Miracle and Walmart, or building one platform with checkout powered by Stripe.

[00:28:37] Shopify and enablers enabling marketplace and distributed salesforce for creators, brands, and collaborative conversations.

[00:35:17] Onboarding relevant brands for creators to sell through multiple creators using a simple app.

[00:39:42] Creators with a niche can use their existing traffic to increase their revenue by introducing readers to a curated marketplace.

Quotes

00:07:20-00:10:19 The Rise of Decentralized, Social-Centric Commerce

The end customer is kind of struggling to say, find the product that someone has recommended and just as you're on to here, you can obviously use affiliate links and then you're directed away. But then that product gets out of stock or the link dies or the tracking has some issues and whatever it might be, So then the insight was like, why can't I just basically buy this product from the person that has inspired me to buy the product?"

00:02:39- 00:05:49 Creator Commerce

I think that ecommerce has still some innovation to tap into, especially in the west. If you compare to how the behaviors look in east, in the Asia and so on, it's much more catered around kind of individuals curation and trusting other peoples and recommendations and so on.

Some Key takeaways from the show:

1/ Starting out as a scrappy operation, Off Script has become a sophisticated platform that allows influencers to build their own marketplaces and sell products from brands they already have relationships with. The platform supports many of the world's most prominent ecommerce platforms and makes it easy for entrepreneurs, creators, curators and other communities to sell relevant products. Offscript has a niche focus, allowing them to work closely with creators and build the marketplaces for them. They also have a unique go to market approach to acquiring brands and creators for their platform.

2/ Creator commerce is a rapidly growing industry, with enablers such as Pietra helping people to start their own brands. Poosh and Goop have paved the way for creating strong, community-centric ecommerce destinations. In the future, shopping is expected to be more decentralized and social, with shorter conversion funnels so customers can buy products they see on social media platforms quickly. Additionally, creators will likely receive more financial rewards, and customers will be able to find brands that match their values and preferences.

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Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more.

Additional episodes you might like:

• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth

• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content

• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views

• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands

• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook

• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands

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Pontus Karlsson - Co-founder and CEO of Off Script
Ramon Berrios - CEO of Trend.io
Blaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated