On November 25th, Mashable announced that it will be opening up a new e-commerce store, “Mashable Shop” to sell branded gear and technology from recently funded Kickstarter campaigns. Visa Checkout is sponsoring the store and has also added products that from other partner stores.
In regards to Mashable, CMO, Stacy Martinet considers it a “brand” play. The media channel is receiving revenue only from branded products and simply providing a venue for other channels to sell unique products that Mashable endorses. Especially considering the site’s emphasis on new technology, this is a clear way to show that the site is a thought-leader on the topic and a clear influencer within the community.
That said, Visa Checkout has created a unique partnership with Mashable through the store by requiring orders to be done through its platform. In hopes of attracting new users, Mashable has found a means to target a specific market–tech savvy millennials–by placing themselves at the center of what they’re looking for. It is a genius mixture of advertising, e-commerce, and branding that seems to have already attracted a large audience.
