Personalized magazine platform Flipboard has grown to 90 million users since released in 2010.
Now that Flipboard has pretty much taken over mobile publication sphere, it's setting its eyes on the margining e-commerce market.
Flipboard unveiled, Monday, a new feature that gives users the ability to pull together ads and listings for specific products into a customized catalog. Readers can then use the catalog for commerce transactions.
Described by Fast Company as a "Sears catalog for the iPad era," Flipbard's shopping vertical works the same way as it does for news - users, publications and brands can pull brands from around the web and create their own glossy, digital magazine instantly. A new "flip.it" bookmarklet lets users "flip" products into a curated magazine or catalog from almost any commerce site. The feature will allow users to add a price tag and other information when someone is flipping a product.
Brands including Banana Republic and eBay along with celebrities like chef Daniel Boulud and actress Alyssa Milano have all partnered with Flipboard's editors at launch.
Founder and CEO for Flipboard Mike McCue saw the move as something that could make online shopping more intuitive. "Great gifts for kids for the holidays; great books; great things for outdoor hiking; things for home and garden," he added.
The company also plans to work with outside retailers in way it works with outside publishers like the New York Times and doesn't plan on changing its advertising-based business model anytime soon.
"We're not taking any credit cards and we're not doing anything with affiliate fees for the time being," said McCue. "Our thinking here is that this is going to create a lot of incentive for brands to advertise on Flipboard."
This is why when users click an item to purchase on Flipboard, the app will bounce to the company's site to complete the transaction. McCue said he hopes to make the experience a "single shopping cart" experience. Though the comparisons to Pinterest are obvious, Flipboard hopes to partner with the company which just raised $255 million of funding.
