When a free app becomes a hit on the app stores, its company ponders over its next step: how to earn from it. Some apps resorted to advertisement, others venture to in-app purchases, but what to do with an app that curates online content from news and magazine websites?
Flipboard decides to commercialize by adding a shopping catalog category. Users can still view news and feature articles from prefered sources, but they can also view shopping catalogs assembled by Flipboard’s editorial team as well as top retail brands like Banana Republic and Levi’s. It can be further sorted into smaller subsections such as fall flannel, with big red buttons that allow users to purchase the goods they see.
The app has also invited celebrities to curate their own shopping catalogs such as designer Cynthia Rowley (“All Things Cynthia”) and actress Alyssa Milano (“Gifts for the Woman in Your Life”). Users eager to make their own catalogs are not left out, as they can also curate their own shopping experience to fellow Flipboarders, much like how they can create their own magazine using existing content. The app does not allow users to earn cash through affliate links, but that might soon change.
The move pushes Flipboard into some sort of a competitor of Pinterest, which allows users to include affiliated links to their pins either for shopping or web traffic.
The shopping section is now available on the latest version of Flipboard, located between sports and photo & design.
Source: Flipboard
