Shoelace

Niche player in social commerce advertising for SMBs

Shoelace was a social commerce advertising technology platform founded to help retailers and e-commerce brands create and manage shoppable ads on social media platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram. The company provided tools that allowed merchants to turn their product catalogs into engaging, shoppable social media advertisements, streamlining the path from product discovery to purchase. Shoelace focused on making social commerce accessible to small and medium-sized businesses by simplifying the ad creation and management process. The platform was designed to help retailers leverage social media's visual nature and large user base to drive sales directly through social channels. Shoelace's technology automated much of the ad creation process, making it easier for businesses without large marketing teams to compete in the social advertising space. In 2020, Shoelace was acquired by Linaria, a marketing technology company, and was subsequently integrated into Linaria's broader suite of marketing solutions. Following the acquisition, Shoelace's standalone operations were wound down as its technology and team were absorbed into the parent company's operations.