BuzzFeed has a new plan to make money: selling merchandise produced by its illustrators and designers.
After a successful internal test run, BuzzFeed opened Shop BuzzFeed to the public this summer. The site sells things like wacky socks, tee shirts with slogans on them, and lots of apparel emblazoned with AF (as f***).
Shop BuzzFeed might look like a swag shop only meant for superfans, but Tessa Gould, BuzzFeed’s head of commerce, told Poynter that it’s actually an important part of BuzzFeed’s money-making strategy. Gould described the effort as part of a new “proactive” commerce strategy, in contrast to a “passive” one which simply relies on revenue-generating links to sites like Amazon. Gould and a small team have been pursuing this since January.
“It’s fair to say that commerce is currently a small but fast growing revenue stream for BuzzFeed,” she told Poynter.
Here is what you can currently find in the BuzzFeed store:
There are jokes about not working out.
Well maybe once.
There are many AF jokes.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Sometimes BuzzFeed gets involved in a common debate.
And takes both sides.
There are a few jokes about being single.
And alone.
And broke.
BuzzFeed loves hummus.
And brunch.
And pizza.
And the word YAAASS ("Be the YAAASS you wish to see in the world").
There's clothing branded with signature BuzzFeed reactions and site sections.
And lots of pins in general.
This hat is a nod to BuzzFeed's "Trending" section, where you can see which posts are going viral.
Colorful socks are a common item.
And the only thing currently sold out is hamburger socks.
