• by Tobi Elkin , Staff Writer @tobielkin, December 1, 2015

Mashable took native in a new direction this week when it launched a native ad campaign combined with ecommerce. Teaming up with Visa for an exclusive partnership, Mashable broke the ad and launched its Mashable Shop on its site on Cyber Monday.

With its focus on ecommerce, the deal signals a new, hybrid form of native advertising for publishers looking to generate more revenue.  Visa is sponsoring the Mashable Shop as a way to promote its Visa Checkout product, the credit card giant's payment service.

The Visa-sponsored ad content includes a series of interviews with NFL stars that feature clips touting Visa Checkout.

The Mashable Shop offers products from brands that Visa partners with along with Kickstarter-funded technology products. Taking a page from Bravo, the shop will also feature Mashable-branded apparel and accessories – they’re created by Collective, the publisher’s creative unit. Revenue from the Kickstarter products will go to the creators of those products.

As part of the deal, consumers purchasing products through Mashable Shop can only use Visa Checkout to complete their transactions. Visa Checkout links to consumers’ credit and debit cards. The move by Visa is a smart one, as it aims to connect with tech-savvy millennials.

For its part, Mashable is always looking for new ways to connect with its audience. “We have worked with Visa in the past and felt that Visa Checkout was the best payment option for the Mashable Shop, and we're really excited to be bringing our community an online destination that curates some of the most innovative tech-focused products, Visa merchant products, and custom Mashable apparel and accessories,” Mashable CMO Stacy Martinet explained to Native Insider.

The campaign is the first of its kind for Mashable and grew out of its existing relationship with Visa. None of the media for the campaign was purchased programmatically.

Asked about the data Mashable and Visa will have access to as a result of the transactions, Martinet said: "We will be interested to see how our community takes to both the Shop, as well as how Mashable articles highlighting the great products will grow the overall awareness of these crowd-funded products."