CEO of Cond̩ Nast Charles Townsend and Jonathan Newhouse, Chairman and Chief Executive of Cond̩ Nast, have announced that global media giant Cond̩ Nast is set to sell merchandise to consumers Рstarting later this year.
The move will transform the company‘s Style.com website from a fashion news blog into an online shop, while the e-commerce venture will run under Style.com‘s domain, in a hope to target the $1.5tn global e-commerce market.
The venture will debut in the UK, followed by the US and eventually other global markets. Users will be able to order merchandise from magazine-branded websites, digital magazine apps and the Style.com website. Readers will also be able to place orders by scanning images from the printed magazines.
Style.com‘s current readers will be redirected to voguerunway.com.
The company will start by introducing between 100 to 200 brands, with the number expected to grow rapidly. President of Style.com Franck Zayan said, “The signed contracts are starting to come in. Every week we sign up another five to ten brands, and the momentum is increasing”.
Condé Nast is also responsible for publications such as Vanity Fair, Glamour, AD and Condé Nast Traveller. Its sheer size and popularity will impact a wide range of retailers, as the site aims to target both fashion brands and upmarket ones. Its current audience comes to more than 300m, offering:
“A huge base of support with whom we already have an active relationship. It can be considered the top 5% of the world‘s adult population. Our potential customer base is far higher than any fashion e-commerce business currently operating and will give Style.com an enormous advantage over its competitor” said Newhouse.
