THEBEAUTYBIZ
COSMOPOLITAN ACTIVATES SHOPPING FEATURE A
s a leader in the tablet magazine market—with over 350,000 current monthly readers—Cosmopolitan is pioneering new technology that will allow consumers to shop its pages with a single tap. The global titan, which publishes 64 total editions in 100 countries, has partnered with leading tech firm Shop Advisor to make the editorial pages and ads within its tablet edition shop-able—via a linear and intuitive process that doesn’t take readers out of the magazine’s shell. Beginning with its June 2013 issue, “Shop Now” buttons have been activated throughout the book on ad and editorial pages alike, linking readers to subsequent pages that feature product details, pricing, and vendor information. Finally—and all while remaining in-app—consumers can be directed to retailers’ sites to complete their purchases.
Cosmopolitan’s September issue.
“This new technology is not only revolutionary, but crucial,” said Donna Kalajian Lagani, senior vice president, publishing director and chief revenue officer, Cosmopolitan. “Tablets represent the fastest-growing technology ever—faster than televisions, even—with over 93 million users in the U.S. alone.” Magazine e-readership is also expanding at an explosive rate, she added, of 147%.
“We’ve been on the tablet since day one,” noted the magazine’s associate publisher, marketing, Nicole Mills, “and are the number one magazine on both the Apple and Barnes & Noble newsstands.” And reader engagement with the “Shop Now” feature has been dynamic thus far, Kalajian Lagani shared. 53% of total Cosmopolitan readers use the button, spending an average time of 2:38 minutes shopping. Additionally, 39% of users showed explicit intent to purchase. Tablet magazines are invaluable to the beauty category, Mills concluded, because they offer an intimate interaction with product launches. Video content, in particular—which can showcase product information or how-to tutorials—is being consumed at a rapid rate, with viewership nearly tripling from Q4 in 2011 to Q4 in 2012. BF
Ad and editorial “Shop Now” pages, with the click-through screen to finalize a purchase.
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THEBEAUTYBIZ
TABLET LEADER