IYNK, the UK’s Fastest Growing Tattoo Marketplace is committed to Supporting the Tattoo Industry throughout the Pandemic

Covid-19 has had a catastrophic effect on the tattoo industry, with many independent studios and tattoo artists being prevented from working throughout the lockdown. However, IYNK – “The UK’s Fastest Growing Tattoo Marketplace” – is helping the industry to fight back using technology by enabling customers to book a tattoo safely and securely on its iOS or Android app without having to make unnecessary visits to a tattoo studio or artist before actually getting their tattoos. Discovering artists, making bookings, messaging and payments can all be done in IYNK’s innovative iOS and Android apps, with a full web-platform (https://www.iynk.com) also launching in September 2020.

To show further support to the tattoo industry, IYNK has also offered artists free PRO accounts throughout the pandemic. Tattoo parlours can also register for free to promote their resident and guest artists and to show important information like their opening times. IYNK is fully committed to continuing to help the industry throughout this difficult period and believes in improving and future-proofing the industry with innovative technological advances. The tattoo industry, which has long-been predominantly a cash-based business sector, was particularly hard hit compared to other more digitally-enabled sectors.

The world is changing and it has never been more important for businesses to adapt. Prior to the launch of IYNK, customers often found tattoo artists through word-of-mouth or on social networks like Instagram but artists didn’t have a safe and secure way to take deposit payments and often got buried by unoptimised algorithms. IYNK (https://www.iynk.com) on the other hand is a bit like Treatwell but for tattoo parlours instead of spa and salons. It has been designed and built specifically for people to discover and book tattoo artists. To date, the app has had thousands of artists and customers signup and is growing steadily.

IYNK believes that individual tattoo artists and studios should be able to benefit from all of the efficiencies and improvements that modern digital marketplaces can bring. However, the team at IYNK also knows that there will always be a little bit of resilience when an industry introduces digital change and innovation. One such exciting development is IYNK’s new “Ink Now, Pay Later” payment option in partnership with Klarna (https://www.klarna.com/), which enables tattoo artists to receive bookings from customers who might want to pay for their tattoo in instalments. IYNK knows that for tattoo studios and artists, many of whom do not have technical knowledge or even a website, to integrate with Klarna, recently valued at $10.6 billion https://tcrn.ch/3hRCzVz, would be incredibly difficult. IYNK is developing other such ideas to help disrupt the tattoo industry in a positive way.

Tattoos are extremely popular, 40% of 18-29-year-olds in the UK have at least one tattoo and this number is growing. Whether you are on the road travelling or searching in your hometown, IYNK will help you discover new artists and studios and be inspired to book your next tattoo.

Says CEO & co-founder Tom Abbott, “It seemed crazy to me that the only way to discover a new tattoo artist or studio was through word of mouth or relying on a recommendation based on Instagram’s algorithms, so we created IYNK – to make finding and booking a tattoo artist easier for the average consumer. Since the platform was built, the world has changed in a profound way, the tattoo industry is starting to see the need to change with it. Artists are now using our platform to digitise their businesses so customers can communicate with them easily and safely”

INYK is on it’s way to building the world’s largest online directory of tattoo collectors, artists, and studios. Starting predominantly in the UK, IYNK will be growing to European cities and the US in the coming months.

IYNK also doubles-up as a recruitment tool for tattoo studios and artists, who can request to work for each other, requesting either guest or resident positions. IYNK hopes that when travel opens up once more, this will help foreign tattoo artists to travel to different countries and operate in a similar manner to how DJs do in the music industry.

IYNK is an industry-changing new marketplace for both tattoo lovers and industry professionals alike.