In an annual letter, CEO Evan Spiegel said he intends for businesses to see Snapchat as a sales channel, not just an advertising platform, by the end of next year.

  • The CEO said the strategy involves “making it easier than ever” for users to find and share products on Snapchat, while organically boosting product content when it is relevant to the community. 
  • He also said shopping could become a core behavior on Snapchat. 
  • Spiegel mentioned in the letter that strengthening the business would help fund its investment in SPECS, a standalone augmented reality (AR) glasses announced in June this year.

Shares of Snap Inc. (SNAP), Snapchat's parent company, were up nearly 2% in premarket trading on Wednesday after CEO Evan Spiegel shared his vision for the platform for 2027. 

In an annual letter late Tuesday, Spiegel said he intends for businesses to see Snapchat as a sales channel, not just an advertising platform, by the end of next year. 

How Does SNAP Plan To Put Sales At The Forefront?

The CEO said the strategy involves “making it easier than ever” for users to find and share products on Snapchat, while organically boosting product content when it is relevant to the community. 

“Shopping can become a core behavior on Snapchat because it is increasingly driven by creators making authentic visual content,” he added. 

Spiegel added that while Snap has enough inventory and engagement to grow its ads business much faster, it will also focus on building new high-value inventory that can be sold over time. “That means continuing to grow Spotlight and closing the gaps in monetization rate between Spotlight and Stories,” he said, while also emphasizing the importance of content in sparking conversations and supporting communication.

“We are at the beginning of a profound shift in how user intent is understood and how ads are served, and we are incredibly well positioned for this change because we actually understand the real you on Snapchat. This helps us make better predictions about what you really want. When we grow our advertising business faster it will strengthen our business, and improve our ability to innovate on behalf of our community,” he added. 

In a separate post on X, the CEO noted that after fifteen years of building Snap, he’s “never been more excited” about the business and its future. “I’m profoundly grateful for our community of nearly one billion Snapchatters, our team, and partners who make it all possible,” he added. 

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk also congratulated Spiegel on his post about completing the 15-year mark with Snap. 

Snap SPECS

Spiegel mentioned in the letter that strengthening the business would help fund its investment in SPECS, a standalone augmented reality (AR) glasses announced in June this year. 

“We’ve always thought that computing needed to be a part of the world instead of stuck on a screen, but now AI is making that work even more meaningful. It’s clear that the future of personal computing is in a pair of glasses that understands you, and the world around you, and provides real-world assistance,” he said in the letter. 

“If we are successful in creating the next personal computer, the rewards are significant. That’s the sort of asymmetric bet we should make if we want to win over the long term,” Spiegel added. 

SNAP Names New Chief Commercial Officer

Separately, the company announced that Ronan Harris will take over as its Chief Commercial Officer to lead Snap's global advertising sales and go-to-market organization, focusing on driving advertising revenue growth and strengthening advertiser and agency partnerships.

SNAP Stock: Retail Stance

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around SNAP stock was ‘bearish’ at the time of writing amid ‘low’ message volumes. 

One user said, “$SNAP if they pull this off, this is like a Bezos moment, or Steve Jobs  with the iphone. Yes I think it wise not to assume the most optimistic outcome, we don't need to see on the low 100% gains from this price, anyone who says otherwise has low IQ. These are the perfect bets to make. Downside is minimal, upside to doubling has extremely high probability and beyond is anyones best guess.”

Another user highlighted Snap’s end-of-2027 plan to pivot to a sales channel, saying, “This is big.”

SNAP stock is down more than 33% this year. 

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