Dockers is leading the way in mcommerce by adding instant shopping capabilities to its mobile native sponsored content, with readers on The Huffington Post able to tap items of interest and purchase them without leaving the publisher’s site.

Buy now buttons have been quickly gaining steam on social media platforms this year as a way to streamline the experience for users interested in advertised products. Bringhub, which is providing the technology behind the Dockers campaign, claims The Huffington Post is the first mainstream news outlet to make native advertising content shoppable.

“Traditionally mobile ecommerce has been tough because of the traditional commerce experience not being optimized for mobile, the inconvenience of leaving a publisher’s site to buy multiple items from multiple retailers and inputting payment details multiple times,” said Dominik Pantelides,  CEO and co-founder at Bringhub.

“Bringhub solves each of these problems by allowing readers to purchase multiple items from multiple retailers without ever leaving a publisher’s site and by providing a one-click checkout experience across all its publishing partners,” he said.

In-content shopping
The in-content shopping experience enables readers to purchase items from multiple stores through one shopping cart. It works across all mobile devices and inside The Huffington Post mobile app.

The experience is on The Huffington Post within content sponsored by Dockers that is titled “Pants + Shirt = Ensemble: Perfect Outfit Math.” A bar at the top of the content, which appears in the Huffington Post news feed, states that it is sponsored by Dockers.

The content describes a variety of scenarios and the appropriate outfit for each. Each scenario also features images of appropriate items.

Tapping on the items opens a shopping cart where readers can choose from several items and add them to their cart and making a purchase.

Not all of the featured items are from Dockers. Other brands featured include Brooks Brothers, Allen-Edmonds and Coach.

The shopping experience is expected to expand to other content on The Huffington Post.

Monetizing mobile
Shoppable content could help publishers monetize their mobile content. However, caution is needed to make sure readers are not turned off by overly promotional content that does not provide value or feel tricked into reading something they thought was an article only to realize it is actually an ad.

Social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest are embracing buy buttons, paving the way for similar experiences on other publishers’ sites.

Other publishers leveraging Bringhub’s technology include The Zoe Report and SHEfinds.

“The user experience with Bringhub is seamless and completing a purchase takes seconds,” Mr. Pantelides said. “Shoppers click the ‘launch cart’ button and the Bringhub shopping cart appears right on their mobile screen.

“The interface is intuitive and publishers love it because readers can complete a purchase without leaving their site.

“Consumers love it because we showcase the products in a visually appealing manner as well as provide all of the product information they would find on the retailer’s own ecommerce site.”

Final Take
Chantal Tode is senior editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York