Fashion Mags Branch Out Into Online Retail

A number of major fashion magazines have recently announced partnerships with e-commerce sites, with Park & Bond’s ‘GQ Selects’ section and Esquire launching CLAD. After recent losses in advertising due to online competition and the economic situation, this move adds a new source of revenue for magazines. The websites also stand to gain, as editor’s recommendations and reviews boost their credibility with consumers. The NY Times reports:

While the glossies have long had a reputation for accommodating the designers they cover, sometimes guaranteeing coverage to those who advertise in their pages, a wave of new ventures and partnerships suggests they are willing to go even further by selling the designers’ clothes. It is a move that is raising some eyebrows in the industry, as magazines like Vogue, GQ and Esquire, struggling to survive in an online world, could potentially become competitors to stores like Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Barneys New York.

This move should prove beneficial for consumers who will be able to find everything they need in one place. So, if they read a review about a product they like, they can click through and order it straight away.

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