While buying an item through Flipboard sounds like a clever way to reach audiences through user-curated content, the act of purchasing isn’t exactly speedy.

As usual, Flipboard takes a cut of the revenue from the ads appearing alongside the products. “The thing about products is that it’s not just about the brand, but about the lifestyle that the product expresses,” Eugene Wei, Flipboard’s head of product, said in an interview.įlipboard’s cut comes in much like the magazine model the startup can pitch ad space inside of catalogs to brands, which can then productize some of their goods and make them available to purchase through Flipboard.

And to court potential buyers, Flipboard argues, it’s much more effective to package a product ad or purchase option alongside relevant content - much like magazines pitch space to the advertisers best suited to their audience. It’s a move in line with the shift made earlier this year when Flipboard introduced “magazines,” user-curated collections of content focused on themes that can be shared with others online (both on the Web and via mobile).Īt the same time, the catalog is much in the same vein as what Flipboard has always professed to be: A digital version of the stylishly laid-out, polished and paginated print magazines we’re used to receiving. The startup, which has offered mobile magazines populated with news and editorial content from your various social streams, announced on Monday its new “catalogs” product, a way for users to browse and purchase items directly from Flipboard, much like the paper gift guides that flood mailboxes year-round. Just in time for the holidays, Flipboard is beginning to look more shopper-friendly.

Electronic flipboard