Flipboard has made an interesting move, adding shopping functionality to its repertoire. The news reader has now embraced another staple of newspaper legacy – items for sale from retailers.
The company has taken a Pinterest-like approach, offering users the ability to add items they like to their curated lists of content. Flipboard will include a price tag on items for sale, and users who are flipping through, can click over to buy the item on the retailer’s site.
The feature is even more Pinterest-like, in that it utilizes a bookmarklet (like the “Pin it” button, but called “Flip.It”) to get users to add the content. If you already use Flipboard’s bookmarklet, you’ll need to upgrade to the newest version to take advantage of the shopping functionality.
“Using the bookmarklet, you can add products from virtually any retail site on the Web into your magazine,” Flipboard says in a blog post. “When flipped into your magazine, most products will display a price, quickly indicating to readers that it’s a shoppable item. Your readers can then tap in to buy the product from the originating Web site. You can mix products with articles, photos, videos and even audio from SoundCloud, creating a catalog with a story to tell.”
Flipboard itself will be featuring its own curated lists from week to week. It’s’ starting with lists called: Modern Man, Beauty Bar, Home Sweet Home, The Pantry and The Active-ist. Brands like Banana Republic, Birchbox, eBay, Etsy, Fab, Levi’s and ModCloth are already offering their own catalogs as well.