Snapchat launches first shoppable ads

More than two months after Cosmopolitan editor and Snapchat board member Joanna Coles told Re/code thatthe social media app might soon roll out e-commerce capabilities, Snapchat unveiled shoppable ads appealing to Cosmopolitan’s young female reader demographic.

The swipe-and-buy ads signal Snapchat’s latest effort to monetize its platform, joining its Snapcash money transfer service and a growing range of advertising options.

Retailers including Chanel, Michael Kors and Louis Vuitton have all run Snapchat campaigns. Just last month, Burberry promoted its new Mr. Burberry men’s fragrance and grooming products collection via Snapchat Discover, unveiling a short video directed by Steve McQueen (the filmmaker behind the Academy Award-winning “12 Years a Slave”) as well as grooming and tailoring videos. Burberry and Snapchat also partnered on Snapcodes—scannable in-store promotions that enable consumers to unlock Mr. Burberry-themed content using mobile devices.

Snapchat now boasts more than 100 million daily users viewing upwards of 10 billion videos every day, Bloomberg reported last week. Snapchat users spend an average of 25 to 30 minutes on the app each day, CEO Evan Spiegel told bankers in a presentation earlier this year.

Despite Snapchat’s popularity and reach, not all brands are convinced of its marketing viability. Speaking in March at the South by Southwest Interactive event, Gregory Pouy, CEO of LaMercatique (a marketing firm that works with luxury brands like TAG Heuer), said Snapchat’s signature video clips—which do not exceed 10 seconds and disappear from device screens once they are viewed—can’t beat YouTube’s searchable content, even with millennials.