StackSocial, a startup offering deals on and early access to gadgets, apps, and other tech-related products, is making its move onto mobile with the launch of its iPhone app.
The company runs its own direct-to-consumer e-commerce site, but it also partners with publishers like Gizmodo, CNET, and AOL (which owns TechCrunch) to integrate commerce onto their properties. And while it isn’t releasing exact revenue numbers, it says that revenue grew 250 percent over the past year to “an eight-figure annualized run-rate”. It also says its publisher network reaches 50 million visitors each month, and that the top publishers in the network saw seven-figure sales in 2013.
The app, meanwhile, offers a similar experience on the iPhone as the consumer site. I was surprised that it took the startup, which was founded in 2011, more than two years to launch its first smartphone app, particularly given its focus on reaching “tech early adopters.” Mikey Lee, a content strategist at the company (and someone I worked with a million years ago at The Stanford Daily), told me that StackSocial had been largely focused on developing its publisher platform and bringing on more partners.
“In 2013, we saw a very organic rise in our user numbers and revenue to the StackSocial.com marketplace, and as a result, we decided to hone in on how we could address the needs of those users,” he said. “Mobile became a clear priority, as we saw mobile traffic doubling as an overall [percentage] of traffic to 1/3 of all traffic.”
In the app press release, founder and CEO Josh Payne says iPad and Android apps are coming this year as well.
This seems to be one of those “launches” where the company releases the app on the App Store a little ahead of time, but it wasn’t publicizing the release until now. Anyway, you can download the StackSocial app here.