Dive Brief:

• Glossier, Stitch Fix, Moda Operandi and Casper were listed as some of the most disruptive companies this year, according to the startup edition of LinkedIn's Top Companies list, released Wednesday. The four retailers came in at No. 13, No. 32, No. 43 and No. 49 respectively.

• They were accompanied by the likes of Uber (No.1), Airbnb (No. 2), WeWork (No. 3), Lyft (No. 4) and Pinterest (No.16), among others. Winners were determined based on employee growth, job seeker interest, LinkedIn member engagement with the company and how the companies "pulled talent from our flagship LinkedIn Top Companies list," according to the post.

• Companies had to fit the following criteria to make the list: be 10 years or younger, employ at least 100 people, be independent and privately held, and have at least one round of venture-backed funding.

Dive Insight:

The startup's on this list have had a lot of retailers trying to keep up — and in some cases, launching competing services.

Stitch Fix is a leader among subscription service models and has garnered a good deal of attention, both before and after filing for an IPO in October. Similar services from Nordstrom's Trunk Club (which contributed to a $197 million write down last year) to Amazon's Prime Wardrobe, are attempting to mirror its success — and it's not difficult to see why.

While subscription services aren't yet a runaway success, they do have a following, and that following is made up primarily of young shoppers. Indeed, millennials are more likely than any other generation to have a subscription service, according to a survey by marketing firm Fluent.

The younger generation is 24% more likely to have a meal kit subscription than baby boomers, 35% more likely to have a shave club subscription and 28% more likely to receive a beauty subscription box. More broadly, the concept of a personalized, unique shopping experience appeals most to the youngest generations — Gen Z and millennials — who should be on the mind of every retailer striving to stay relevant.

LinkedIn's other picks are equally as disruptive and the company lauded them for their success in shaking up the market. Glossier, for its part, was "the fastest-growing company on this list over the past 12 months," according to LinkedIn, which recorded an annual employee growth rate for the company of 257%. And they haven't stopped expanding. In July, the beauty brand announced plans to expand into Canada, the U.K. and France, as the beginning of a larger international expansion.

"[E]very time we launch in a new place, we want to get to know every new market just as well as we've gotten to know our U.S. crowd over the past few years," Weiss said. "That's why we'll be taking this country by country, making sure we nurture each new community like we did with our U.S. crowd."

Moda Operandi made the list for "redefining what it means to be a luxury shopper in a digital age," with its get-it-off-the-runway model. The retailer is also at the forefront of the digital payments space —  partnering with Amazon Pay to allow remote checkout from Instagram.

Casper, on the other hand, bucked the digital trend and made the list for going offline with its product, as well as broadening its product assortment. "It introduced products like a humidity fighting duvet, an adjustable bed frame and a dog bed," noted LinkedIn. Casper also launched pop-ups in 15 U.S. cities in September, and scored a big partnership with Target in May, demonstrating the startup's efforts to expand the online-only model.