The popular mobile app Flipboard, now allows both users and retail companies to create their own catalogs; which generates a new great potential for e-commerce.
Flipboard is a magazine like app where users can subscribe to different topics or genre of their interest, and the app would pull together information and articles around the web to put into this one place for users to view. To this date, Flipboard has 90 million users.
Their users now have an new option to interact with the app. They can go line to find products that they like, and add those products to Flipboard, which creates a virtual catalog which they can share with other users/followers. As these other users flip through Flipboard and see these products, with a few single clicks, they can be linked to the website to purchase these products.
Now retailers such as Banana Republic or Sears would be able create online catalogs. But what is so special about creating these catalogs in Flipboard and not on their own websites? It is because Flipboard integrates all these catalogs into one place (app), so shoppers don’t have to go to multiple sites.
This method of marketing opens up a new channel for firms to deliver their value proposition to the costumers, and it is also a way to gain more customers.
Right now Flipboard still focuses their business model by integrating full size advertisement into their “personal” Magazine, in the future has a great possibility to do transaction for online retailers or do retailing themselves.
http://www.fastcompany.com/3021443/with-90m-users-flipboard-launches-shopping-magazine-experience