The creator economy is on a growth streak, and because the segment continues to evolve and mature, marketers have steadily upped their investments within the space. For Macy’s, that has meant expanding its Style Crew affiliate marketing program, an effort that currently includes over 600 influencers and is projected by the brand to grow to a complete of 1,000 members.
Macy’s Style Crew first launched in 2017 as an worker ambassador program with 20 members, but expanded in 2020 to welcome outside creators. The program helps Macy’s connect with its target market on the platforms popular for creator content and beyond, and serves as one other way for the brand to bolster its identity outside of the tentpole events for which it has turn out to be synonymous.
“Macy’s does have this really emotional element to it — we produce the Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Fourth of July fireworks,” said Andrea Port, Macy’s senior director of social media content and influencer marketing. “People have this good feeling concerning the experiences we placed on, and we wish them to feel that daily.”
Enhancements to the Style Crew are supposed to help Macy’s keep pace with an increasingly competitive creator landscape while also cashing in on renewed interest in affiliate marketing, an area forecast to see double-digit growth this 12 months to succeed in $13.2 billion in U.S. marketing spend. Recent updates from the brand include the launch of creator storefronts on macys.com, 12% commission rates and increased access to exclusive events.
The program recorded significant year-over-year growth in 2025, including a 30% to 40% conversion growth amongst top creators, a 315% boost in revenue and a 327% increase in traffic, in keeping with Macy’s. Interest by creators is also growing, with the brand recording a 138% YoY increase in organic posts being created by Style Crew members over the identical time period. While affiliate marketing is inherently performance driven, Macy’s prioritizes metrics that reach beyond sales alone, Port explained.
“We’re not necessarily considering of it just when it comes to sales, we’re really the engagement of the community,” Port said.
Macy’s manages the Style Crew program in-house, but leverages technology services from corporations CJ and Motom for its creator storefronts. Talent each internally and externally can apply via an internet application.
Beyond the screen
While the Style Crew is geared toward channels like social media, Macy’s has begun experimenting with bringing influencers to additional channels. For the 2025 holiday season, the department store sent out direct mailers to consumers that featured Style Crew picks, together with a QR code that could possibly be scanned to view more content. While junk mail targets a distinct — typically older — consumer than social media, the move was successful in indicating to the brand that there is a desire for affiliate content beyond digital channels, Port said.
“People, regardless of their age or what medium they’re in, they need to see curation,” Port said. “They need to see folks that seem like them.”
Macy’s is also testing bringing its Style Crew to stores. In November and December last 12 months, the brand picked three cities to bring creators’ storefronts to life of their home markets. The creators’ storefronts each focused on a distinct segment of business: in Dallas, Raven Gates featured a wide range of family focused picks; in Miami, Jessi Malay curated picks centered on holiday style; and in New York, Carli Bybel showcased her top beauty picks.
The move helped the brand reach each fans of the creators in addition to those that happened to be shopping in-store in the course of the pop-ups, Port said. It also helped the brand resonate with those within the 30-45 age range, a segment of shoppers Macy’s is prioritizing with in-store experiences.
“We are seeing that group come into store increasingly, which is why we’re attempting to test that physical and digital expression,” Port said.
A variety of brands have recently launched affiliate programs of their very own, including Sephora, Chewy’s and Lowe’s. Affiliate marketing varies from influencer marketing in that it is directly tied to measurable outcomes and is less related to constructing brand awareness, however the line between the 2 has turn out to be increasingly blurred as creators mix storytelling with sales. Affiliate marketing can be less expensive for brands while still offering a possibility to construct creator relationships, Port explained.
“Brands only have a lot of a budget to do flat fee campaigns, and I feel we are able to’t try this with everybody, but I feel creators have recognized that there are alternative ways for them to still service their communities through affiliate marketing,” Port said.
The evolution of Macy’s Style Crew comes at a critical time for business. The department store is currently within the means of closing 150 stores as a part of a yearslong downsizing plan that is key to turnaround efforts led by Macy’s Inc. CEO Tony Spring, who is approaching one 12 months within the role. Macy’s Inc. posted its strongest Q3 comps in over three years in December, with net sales essentially flat 12 months over 12 months, while the Macy’s brand saw net sales fall 2.3%. The efforts to reinforce Macy’s Style Crew are symbolic of the brand’s broader turnaround push.
“I feel every little thing we’re doing is really focused on driving latest consideration for Macy’s and really having us be at first of culture,” Port said.
In 2026, Port plans to create more in-person marketing opportunities that leverage the Style Crew. The executive also hopes to seek out more ways to utilize the program, including by finding ways to maintain it interconnected with major events just like the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which can have a good time its a centesimal anniversary this 12 months.
“We are really about community, so feeling like the way in which that we found the most effective success with that is doing plenty of this in-real-life sort of content, so whether that’s all influencer, or influencer and consumer together, really exploring the right way to leverage our greatest asset, which is our stores.”
Read the total article here
