How Pictarine 4x’ed its revenue in 3 years by shifting the payment model

Learnings from Pictarine’s Product strategy

Jun 26, 2025

Hey, I’m Timothe, cofounder of Stellar & based in Paris.
I’ve spent the past years helping 500+ startups in Europe build better product orgs and strategies. Now I’m sharing what I’ve learned (and keep learning) in How They Build.

🔍 TL;DR

Company: Pictarine (Photo printing made instant)
Challenge: Stalled revenue growth, limited control
Solution: In-app payments and price autonomy
Impact: Revenue x4 in three years
Takeaway: Reclaiming control over pricing and checkout flow unlocks massive upside when paired with focused execution

Context

Today, I’m breaking down Pictarine and how to reignite growth by reclaiming control over payments and pricing, with key takeaways you can start applying tomorrow. Let’s dive in!

Product 101 for Executives
Feature rollout: Phased release of a feature to users.
Cross-functional squads: Small teams with product, design, and engineering working on one goal.

Disclaimer: The organizational choices and technical solutions shared in this newsletter aren’t meant to be copied and pasted as-is. Always keep your company’s context in mind before adopting something that works elsewhere! 😊

The Company

Pictarine is a French startup that lets users instantly print photos from their phone and pick them up at one of 17,000 retail locations in the U.S., including Walgreens and CVS. Orders are typically ready in under 20 minutes, merging the convenience of mobile with the immediacy of local pickup.

🥵 Their challenge : Partner lock-in

Pictarine faced limited growth due to its dependence on retail partners for checkout and pricing. This issue led to:

No control over pricing strategy
Poor user experience at checkout
High no-show rates at partner stores

😢 How the Problem Affected Pictarine’s Performance

Margins capped
Feature rollout blocked
Conversion rates limited

💡 Their idea to solve the problem

To address this challenge, Pictarine shifted the payment flow from in-store to in-app and negotiated autonomy over pricing and bundling. This allowed them to: