Flipboard, the popular news aggregation app, has announced that it is branching out into the lucrative domain of e-commerce. Today, Flipboard said that it would be enabling individuals and brands to create their own personal catalogues on the site.

This move towards an online magazine catalogue service isn't surprising. In March, the site introduced a feature to its service which gave users a way to create a magazine with collated articles across the web that others could read. It is only natural that the next evolution for the platform would be to give brands and users the power to create their own magazines with their own content.

By enabling users and brands to create online magazines with their own content, Flipboard has created another revenue stream for brands and media companies, something which the media is now calling for Pinterest to address by making moves back from the opposite direction.

Users who browse through a brand's magazine will soon be able to make purchases directly from a brand's Flipboard. Banana Republic and Levi's have already launched their own catalogues on the site which are both worth checking out. As online retail continues to grow in the social media space, don't be surprised if Flipboard becomes a major destination for online shopping not just for brands but for consumers as well.