Content to Commerce

The path from engaging with content to pressing the “buy” button has shortened to nearly nothing—and it’s still shrinking, thanks to innovative content and platforms that make “shopping the story” a frictionless experience. Take the work produced by the Foundry with GiftNow, a client whose differentiator in the market is the ability to instantly deliver gifts virtually, by text or email. Fun interactive countdown calendars before major shopping events—the winter holidays, Valentine’s Day—help the reader both find ideas for last-minute gifts and also use the platform to purchase them.

Instagram, of course, has blurred the line between content and commerce so that it ceases to exist. (IG’s funny and engaging Celine Dion ad spot—in which she models shoppable ’90s clothing trends while lip-synching to one of her own ’90s hits—perfectly exemplifies that.) Next up for Instagram is a checkout feature, allowing viewers to buy the products they see right in the app. This pushes the platform toward being even more of a marketplace. The true benefit of the content-to-commerce model is that it provides value to the consumer by making a straight line between inspiration and purchase.

The takeaway: Consumers don’t just tolerate content-to-commerce models—they actively want them.