Why ASOS is e-commerce warning for magazines

asosWomen’s magazines are as captivated by e-commerce as their readers and fashion advertisers. And that’s saying something. In the UK, online takes an estimated 40-50% of fashion shopping. The global market is dominated by the UK-based ASOS and Net a Porter, launched within days of each other in 2000, and now generating revenues of £800m and £500m respectively. ASOS is the world’s most visited fashion web site, with 30m unique monthly visitors and 8m active customers placing 2m orders annually across 200 countries. And it’s packed with free content. No wonder the world’s leading fashion publishers are envious.

ASOS magazine: media meets retail. Big returns in more ways than one E-commerce seems to be the magazine industry’s golden opportunity to “move up the value chain” and deliver real sales for their advertisers. Publishers have been quietly encouraged by the fact that Net a Porter was launched by former journalist Natalie Massenet and ASOS by one-time media buyer Nick Robertson: media people with content-rich, shoppable web sites – and even their own printed magazines.

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