NEW YORK ? A Thrillist executive at the Think Commerce Summit said that as the company sees more consumers buying from their handsets, the organization has taken on a mobile-first mentality when developing new services.

During the ?Monetization and the Media Company ? A Look Ahead? keynote interview, the Thrillist top executive spoke about how the media company has developed a strategy around commerce and content. The session was moderated by Joshua Neckes, director of marketing at Group Commerce, New York.

?There?s plenty more growth for us just to focus on exactly what we?re doing now and get better at it and put more reach around it,? said Ben Lerer, cofounder/CEO of Thrillist, New York.

?Mobile I don?t see as being a separate proposition at all ? twenty percent of our sales today come through mobile,? he said. ?Our audience on mobile has grown faster than on any other platform.?

?Generally everything we?re doing internally as a company, we do mobile-first. So every conversation we have ? whether it?s about the wireframe or a new design for the Web ? I refuse to look at it until I see the mobile version. Everything is built for mobile and then you build the Web version ? not the other way around.?

Thrillist was launched in 2005 as a local-focused media company for men. The company finds ways for men to spend their time and money with local and national products and services.

In 2010, the company acquired ecommerce flash sales site JackThreads.

Thrillist and JackThreads collectively bring in approximately $70 million in annual revenue, more than half of which comes from JackThreads.

Mobile shopping
Thrillist is seeing that the company?s commerce business is working better than its content business on mobile.

The fewer frills that a mobile experience has leads to higher conversions, per Mr. Lerer.

For instance, it is best to create an app that does not need a tutorial screen and keeps the user experience simple.

By doing this, JackThreads has seen higher conversion rates on its iOS app than on PCs.

However, the growth in mcommerce has less to do about how well a company is doing in mobile and more about bigger shopping trends as users choose their handsets as the go-to device to buy from.

?The fact that I only shop JackThreads on my iPhone is not intentional. I?m not trying to test the device ? it?s just how I know how and it?s easier,? Mr. Lerer said.

Content creators
Thrillist prides itself on having an audience that trusts product recommendations.

This type of relationship with users means that the company is able to drive commerce from its content.

However, not all media companies are suited for commerce. For example, breaking news and sports news have large audiences, but might not have the type of relationship with consumers that lends itself to product and service recommendations.

?All media companies have big audiences to think about how to drive commerce, but in some situations it?s more difficult,? Mr. Lerer said.

?I think it?s going to be important for any digital-only business to not rely on just advertising,? he said.

?We?ve proven that we can turn a reader into a buyer, and we?re pleased that we can also turn a buyer into a reader.?

Commerce media companies often have problems devoting resources to creating great content while also focusing on all of the logistics that are involved in the commerce space.

Social media is also increasingly playing a role in how consumers share and buy products online.

Thrillist?s social media strategy revolves around creating content ? whether it is traditional journalist content or commerce content. The first metric of success to this strategy is quality.

For instance, a consumer who takes an action and goes to a restaurant based on a article that they read has more value than a consumer sharing the article via social media, per Mr. Lerer. 

Pick your sweet spot
The key for media companies to drive commerce is to find a way to blend content and commerce seamlessly into the same experience for users.

Although there are a variety of vendors to help commerce efforts, it?s important for media companies to pick a few areas to claim their own.

?You need to figure out the one or two pieces of commerce that you really want to be great at ? I don?t think that you can go and outsource the whole thing,? Mr. Lerer said.

?The reason we have been successful with JackThreads is because we have risked everything for it and therefore the reward was great,? he said. ?We do our own fulfillment, we do our own customer service and our own customer service call center. We do all of our own merchandising, we hold our inventory ? we are a real commerce company.?

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York