Condé Nast is to launch its long-expected global ecommerce business in the UK this autumn.
The magazine publisher says the Style.com site will sell to readers of its titles, which include the Vogue, Vanity Fair and Gentleman’s Quarterly magazines and websites, as well as to other consumers. The site is led by Franck Zayan, who previously headed ecommerce for Galeries Lafayette, in Paris. Zayan, now president of Style.com, first outlined plans for the business at Internet Retailing Conference 2014, in conversation with Internet Retailing editor-in-chief Ian Jindal. Read more here, or watch the video.
Shoppers will initially be able to choose from between 100 and 200 brands, buying from magazine-branded websites, clicking through to purchase from downloaded digitised magazine apps or scanning codes in the printed magazines to buy. Upmarket travel, beauty and technology products will be on offer alongside fashion brands.
Zayan, who will run the global business from offices near London’s Regent’s Park, says response from potential customers has been “extremely positive”.
“The signed contracts are starting to come in,” he said. “Every week we sign up another five to ten brands, and the momentum is increasing.
He added: “Fashion companies and other upscale brands understand the authority of our magazines and websites, and their unique ability to connect them to potential buyers. Style.com will take these relationships to new a new level, taking advantage of our existing customer database. It will provide a great user experience for consumers, employing the most state-of-the-art technology, and build sales for the brands.”
Condé Nast publishes more than 140 magazines around the world in 29 markets, and Jonathan Newhouse, chairman and chief executive of Condé Nast International said titles, which also include Glamour, Architectural Digest, Wired and Condé Nast Traveller, gave Style.com a huge potential audience.
“The audience of our magazines and websites around the globe comes to more than 300m, a huge base of support with whom we already have an active relationship,” he said. “It can be considered the top five per cent of the world’s adult population. Our potential customer base is far higher than any fashion ecommerce business currently operating and will give Style.com an enormous advantage over its competitors.”
The Style.com name is currently used by another Condé Nast editorial website, which focuses on fashion and runway coverage. Visitors looking for that type of content will be redirected to voguerunway.com on the American Vogue site.
While Style.com will be owned by Condé Nast it will operate as a standalone unit under the joint supervision of the media company’s US and International divisions.
Photo credit: Claudia Burlotti
