Conde Nast are the publishing group known for many of the biggest magazines on the high street and some of the most popular magazine-websites, have announced a new partnership with Amazon. Conde Nast count popular magazines like Vogue and Vantity Fair amongst their stable, as well as tech magazine and website wired.com.
For the past few years, Conde Nast have been selling ‘full access’ subscriptions on their respective brand websites. A full access subscription gets you a six or 12 month sub to the magazine with a bolt on access key for the full content on the brands website. Most of Conde Nast’s websites operate on a ‘freemium’ model, whereby they provide some content free of charge before presenting a paywall for further access.
Now the sales process will now be handled by Amazon, who will begin promoting both the digital and subscription services for Conde Nast. This will initially be for seven of their titles, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Wired, Lucky, Glamour, Golf Digest and Bon Appetit.
Pending a successful trial, all of Conde Nast’s other titles will move over to Amazon fulfillment.
One of the main aims here is to make it easier for consumers to buy these publications. Where previously, you would have to enter your details separately for each publication, now you can buy them through your Amazon account. With features like their patented one click buy, Amazon of course are well re-known for making this process easy.
Many will be wondering what the need is for this service, especially considering that this can all be achieved through the Apple newstand. The simple answer though is data. Where Apple don’t share subscription data with their clients, in this case Conde Nast, Amazon are reportedly willing to do so. Therefore, working with Apple brings a vast amount of exposure throughout the Worlds leading e-commerce platform as well as the opportunity to retain valuable sales data.
Another reason why Conde Nast choose Amazon not Apple lies in a recent deal signed between Apple and Conde Nast’s largest rival Hearst. This deal saw Hearst make their magazine titles available on Newstand before any other platform.
What does all of this mean for you, the consumer? Well, its clear that digital product sales are going to remain fragmented, without a singular market dominator. Ultimately it comes down to picking your poison between Amazon and Apple, but if you’re a fan of both publishing houses content, then you will not get a central buying platform – at least not when the magazine first hits the virtual shelf.
