In a market where publishers are closing consumer magazines, Bauer has bucked the trend by doubling Shop Til You Drop's publishing schedule and made it a fortnightly title.
The women's fashion, beauty and lifestyle title will ditch its monthly format in favour of a fortnightly cycle from October this year. The move is driven by research which showed that the rise of social media, e-commerce and globalisation have increased the frequency how much women shop, Bauer claimed.
The news comes amid a time of great struggle and change for consumer magazines. PricewaterhouseCoopers reported that 17 titles closed between January 2012 and March 2013, including Madison and Grazia. Almost 20% of them had been on the market for less than five years, PwC claimed.
Publishers have, however, launched a number of new titles as they continue to evolve their portfolios, with the forthcoming launch of Bauer's Elle in September the most notable. Former Shop Til You Drop editor Justine Cullen was appointed editor-in-chief of Elle earlier this year. Shop Til You Drop is now led by former Grazia deputy editor Alexandra Carlton.
Of the frequency change, Carlton said: “I couldn’t be prouder to lead Shop into its new era. By increasing its frequency to once every two weeks, we’re demonstrating that this magazine has the courage to be nimble and forward-thinking, keeping pace with the way modern women live and shop.
"Our reader is also hyperconnected, with 74% using a smart phone as their main phone, more than any other women’s fashion title. Our reader wants to shop from both bricks and mortar and online stores as soon as the stock hits.”
Bauer Media's young women's lifestyle publisher Anna Quinn said: “For a retail brand like Shop Til You Drop, it is essential that we move forward in line with the retail revolution. A bi-weekly edition allows us to deliver more content in a more relevant and timely fashion. The new format will offer a fresh, multi-platform approach for maximising our readers’ retail power through new advertorial and editorial initiatives.”
Bauer is also preparing to announce a number of brand ambassadors for the title.
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