E-Commerce powerhouse Net-A-Porter took a risk and moved out of its comfort zone publishing a print magazine, Porter. With young minds as the target audience, Porter had to be innovative to capture their attention and rival competitor magazines.
After 14 years of being primarily an online luxury fashion destination, Net-A-Porter recognised that their consumers were magazine lovers, reading about four to five on average a month. Net-A-Porter set out to publish its first print magazine, Porter in 2014, with readers able to instantly purchase products in the magazine via an app.
OBJECTIVE:
Porter wished to create a seamless journey for its readers, delivering quality, luxurious content that was not sales focused. The process needed to be easy for readers who wish to buy products found in the magazine. Porter was launched with the intention to both increase sales and become the main go-to resource for its target audience.
METHOD:
Porter is made from premium, quality glossy stock publication featuring stunning imagery of products, trends and brands with over 500 items available for purchase inside each issue. The magazine is not only set up to allow readers to easily purchase products instantly via the Net-Porter app, but also features informative content on major players within the fashion industry. The bi-monthly magazine is distributed in 60 countries and is $60 AUD for a 12 month (6 edition) subscription.
When readers open up the magazine, the first page details the instructions: Download the Net-Porter app and select the ‘scan Porter magazine’ button. Hold the phone over a page or product your interested in and a ‘shop’ icon will appear. The app then shows the colours, sizes and availability of the products, suggest similar products and display links to related videos or information regarding beauty or fashion tips. A Luxury shopping experience all in the comfort of your own home.
“We’re building a physical temple to our brand—like Apple did with stores. Porter is meant to be a lasting, more intimate look into the minds of fashion’s most interesting people. It will be published six times a year and distributed in 60 countries, though consistently published in American English. ”
Natalie Massenet,
Net-A-Porter’s founder
RESULTS:
The magazine has proved to be a risk worth taking, showing continuous popularity, with circulation reaching 170,038 in February 2016, a 10% increase from February 2015 with double-digit growth expected for 2016.
Since the launch in 2014, readers have scanned more than 90,000 products with an interaction rate of 80% clicking through to Net-A-Porter.com. Those customers that do subscribe to Porter have increased their spend by 125% and their rate of frequency on the site by 25%. Porter has been successful in both increasing website traffic and sales and is slowly achieving the goal of becoming the main fashion resource for consumers, catching up with Vogue’s magazine subscriptions.
CONCLUSION:
Porter has highlighted that people still get excited about print, especially beautifully designed magazines with high-quality content and stunning imagery. Net-A-Porter’s ability to combine a luxurious magazine with a shopping app is at the core of its success. The print magazine was able to fill the lacking physical representation of the brand, bringing Net-A-Porter’s online store offline and into the living rooms of their consumers. Offering direct tangible contact with customers that the permanent nature of print uniquely delivers. Net-A-Porter has shown that circulation for print magazines is an extremely successful tool for marketers if they innovate with their products and continue to integrate print and digital.
