Someone finally solved influencer gifting!

Influencer gifting and seeding is BROKEN - let me tell you a story why (and how it's being fixed as we speak!)

A couple of months ago, I received a message from a men's business shoe brand that I had never heard of to send me a pair of shoes and if I liked them... I could make a quick post about them...

It was the first time a DTC brand had reached out to me as an influencer to seed product to, and it felt pretty meta that they did (hahahh considering what I do FOR BRANDS hah)

They offered to send me any pair of shoes as part of their influencer gifting program.

Sounds great, right?

Well, the process was anything but smooth.

It started with filling out a Google form (yes, a Google form in 2024! 😩), followed by weeks of radio silence.

The shoes finally arrived over a month and a half later, but by that point, the excitement had fizzled out.

It hit me hard: the product gifting process is broken.

Brands are investing in influencer marketing but missing out on real opportunities because their gifting process is clunky, outdated, and inefficient.

They lose momentum—and, in MOST cases, the potential to turn influencers into advocates.

But then, last week I had a conversation with Atif Raza at Refunnel, and it was like a lightbulb went off.

Refunnel is rolling out a product THIS WEEK that completely automates the product gifting process, taking the manual headaches out of the equation.

Here’s what they built:

✅ Custom landing pages: Influencers can pick their own products and variants (no back-and-forth forms).

✅ Seamless Shopify integration: Orders are fulfilled automatically, so gifts arrive on time.

✅ Performance-based rewards: Creators can be incentivized based on how well their content performs. You’re not just sending freebies—you’re getting real results.

And that’s only the beginning.

Refunnel tracks all UGC mentions and campaign results, so you know what’s working and where to adjust.

It’s a game-changer and something we will be rolling out at upGrowth Commerce ASAP!

If you’re currently stuck in the old school way of gifting, I get it... I was once like you haha!

I highly suggest going to https://www.refunnel.com/ booking a call with Atif and seeing for yourself!

Ps… tell him that i sent you - I want to get on the CAP table (as usual hahah)