The creator economy is on a growth streak, and as the segment continues to evolve and mature, marketers have steadily upped their investments in 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 total of 1,000 members.
Macy’s Style Crew first launched in 2017 as an employee ambassador program with 20 members, but expanded in 2020 to welcome outside creators. The program helps Macy’s connect with its target audience on the platforms popular for creator content and beyond, and serves as another way for the brand to reinforce its identity outside of the tentpole events for which it has become 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 about the experiences we put on, and we want them to feel that every day.”
Enhancements to the Style Crew are meant to help Macy’s keep pace with an increasingly competitive creator landscape while also cashing in on renewed interest in affiliate marketing, a space forecast to see double-digit growth this year to reach $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 among top creators, a 315% boost in revenue and a 327% increase in traffic, according to 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 same time period. While affiliate marketing is inherently performance driven, Macy’s prioritizes metrics that extend beyond sales alone, Port explained.
“We’re not necessarily thinking of it just in terms of sales, we’re really looking at the engagement of the community,” Port said.
Macy’s manages the Style Crew program in-house, but leverages technology services from companies CJ and Motom for its creator storefronts. Talent both internally and externally can apply via an online 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, along with a QR code that could be scanned to view more content. While direct mail targets a different — 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, no matter their age or what medium they’re in, they want to see curation,” Port said. “They want to see people that look like them.”
Macy’s is also testing bringing its Style Crew to stores. In November and December last year, the brand picked three cities to bring creators’ storefronts to life in their home markets. The creators’ storefronts each focused on a different segment of business: in Dallas, Raven Gates featured a variety 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 both fans of the creators as well as those who happened to be shopping in-store during the pop-ups, Port said. It also helped the brand resonate with those in 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 more and more, which is why we’re trying to test that physical and digital expression,” Port said.
A number of brands have recently launched affiliate programs of their 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 associated with building brand awareness, but the line between the two has become increasingly blurred as creators blend storytelling with sales. Affiliate marketing can also be more cost effective for brands while still offering an opportunity to build creator relationships, Port explained.
“Brands only have so much of a budget to do flat fee campaigns, and I think we can’t do that with everybody, but I think creators have recognized that there are different 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 in the process of closing 150 stores as part of a yearslong downsizing plan that is key to turnaround efforts led by Macy’s Inc. CEO Tony Spring, who is approaching one year in the role. Macy’s Inc. posted its strongest Q3 comps in over three years in December, with net sales essentially flat year over year, while the Macy’s brand saw net sales fall 2.3%. The efforts to enhance Macy’s Style Crew are symbolic of the brand’s broader turnaround push.
“I think everything we’re doing is really focused on driving new consideration for Macy’s and really having us be at the start 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 find more ways to utilize the program, including by finding ways to keep it interconnected with major events like the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary this year.
“We are really about community, so feeling like the way that we found the best success with that is doing a lot of this in-real-life type of content, so whether that’s all influencer, or influencer and consumer together, really exploring how to leverage our best asset, which is our stores.”
