The barriers to purchase have shatterred over the last few years, letting users purchase with a click, scan or tap. Interestingly enough, technology has married content and commerce in interesting ways, allowing users to purchase items seen on TV, print and online with increasing ease. While your friends influence your purchase decisions so too do Bobby Flay, Sports Illustrated and The View.
And now, MasterCard, in partnership with Condé Nast, are trying to do just that. Called ShopThis, the partnership will begin with the November tablet edition of Wired, out on October 15th. It will allow users to click through the ad experience directly to the point of sale, and would allow for a very in-depth system of metrics around how users want to be marketed to, how they want to purchase, and the like. And, the ability to generate direct sales from an ad would be highly sought after by advertisers and merchants alike. Condé Nast is going to study Wired’s experiment deeply before moving onwards, and it’s worth keeping an eye on their findings.
