LTK, a SoftBank-backed creator commerce platform valued at $2 billion, has laid off staff as part of a strategic reorganisation. The cuts affected a low single-digit percentage of its 550-plus employees, including software engineers and creator relations staff. The Dallas-based company said the restructuring was designed to refocus its business around a revamped brand platform launched in late 2025, which offers features like creator discovery and performance tracking at no cost. LTK generates revenue through sales commissions. Founded 15 years ago by Amber Venz Box, LTK says it's profitable and doubled its EBITDA in 2025. The company has raised over $300 million, with most coming from SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 in 2021. Over 1,000 brands have joined its new platform.

TikTok is reportedly conducting a test that allows some creators to add product links from third-party affiliate networks to their posts.The affiliate networks include Amazon, Walmart, Target, Rakuten, Impact, CJ, Expedia, Clickbank, Temu and LTK, Modern Retail reported Tuesday (Nov. 19), citing social media posts from creators and marketing consultants.With this integration, product links are displayed at the top of a post’s comment section, according to the report.A TikTok spokesperson told Modern Retail that the test involves a limited number of creators, is not an official program and is being used to collect feedback, per the report.TikTok is the go-to platform for beauty purchases, which is the second-most popular category of products purchased on social media platforms, according to the PYMNTS Intelligence report “Tracking the Digital Payments Takeover: Monetizing Social Media.”The report found that 14% of consumers bought products on social media platforms in the previous 30 days, with apparel being the most common type of product purchased through these channels.The Modern Retail report follows the addition of several other new features to the TikTok platform.On Thursday (Nov. 14), the company said it made its artificial intelligence-powered video generation tool, Symphony Creative Studio, available to all TikTok for Business users. This tool includes features for generating, transforming and scaling content.“Part of TikTok’s Symphony creative AI suite, Symphony Creative Studio aims to support advertisers and content creators with free tools to make the creative production process easier and more efficient, bridging the gap between ideation and production,” the company said in a press release.In August, it was reported that Amazon partnered with TikTok and Pinterest to let the users of those social media apps buy products from Amazon without leaving those apps. To use this social commerce offering, TikTok and Pinterest users link their profiles from those platforms to their Amazon accounts, enabling them to buy products directly from the ads.In July, global event marketplace Eventbrite partnered with TikTok to help event creators promote their events and sell tickets. The collaboration includes an integration in which Eventbrite creators and TikTok users can add Eventbrite links directly to their TikTok videos.For all PYMNTS digital transformation coverage, subscribe to the daily Digital Transformation Newsletter

LTK has added new customization features and access to weekly payouts to its Creator Commerce platform. The new customization features allow the users of LTK DM, the platform’s automatic direct message tool for LTK Creators, to personalize up to 10 trigger words per Instagram post along with the direct messages the members of their community receive, LTK said in a Tuesday (Aug. 20) press release. When the LTK DM tool was launched in June, it had one trigger word: “Shop.” This tool was designed to make it easier for creators to share the shopping details of their Instagram posts with their community, as those who comment “Shop” on a post will immediately receive an automated direct message that includes a direct link to the creator’s LTK