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an online resource where women could find clear, honest advice, interact with experts, ask questions and swap tips. No other magazine could ever be large enough to hold a catalogue of so many amazing insights.”


Susannah is unanimous in her business partner’s opinion. “The scope of the internet cannot be rivalled” she says. “Editors are usually pretty forward thinking people and they know that when people go home at night, instead of watching TV they switch on their laptop or iPad and that creates countless ways to involve and interact with your audience.”


Both Susannah and Sarah are also keen to stress the importance of interactivity and reaching an existing audience in a different way, as well as a whole new readership and potential customer base all together. Sarah highlights how both print and digital content offerings co-exist. “It’s not a ‘them’ and ‘us’ thing” she says. “It’s a symbiosis which can bring benefits to publishing across all platforms, digital or otherwise.”


Like Susannah Taylor, Editor Sarah Walter, now Founder of Style-Passport.com, also began her career at British Vogue (“I was very lucky to start there – there is no better calling card in the fashion industry,” Walter cites). However, instead of solely focusing on rich, interactive content, Walter noticed that


e-commerce sales were soaring and fashion and travel were the best performing segments. Departing from the Condé Nast publication for a stint in retail at New Look, Sarah noticed that the real opportunities were not in bricks and mortar, but online. “The likes of Net-a-Porter and ASOS have changed the


way


women shop. And if shoppers move in large volumes it’s only natural that businesses interested


“E-commerce channels


website and its services – our customers fly EasyJet and stay at the Four Seasons – they are pretty smart.”


And fashion retail isn’t the only sector to take notice of the power of e-commerce channels coupled with a unique spin on content. Alison Cork, a homes expert and columnist for the Evening Standard and Sunday Mirror launched AlisonatHome.com after noticing that she needed “to put all of the advice I had given readers over the years into action.” Like fashion and beauty, interior design is a personal experience that wasn’t being fulfilled to its full capacity in print and Alison was keen to reflect this in every aspect of her website, where she provides expert content and how- to’s along with an online store for readers to buy her line of homeware. “I read that by 2020 shopping on the internet will outstrip all other forms of shopping” says Alison. “This is a growth area and I would argue that traditional publishing isn’t; so you can expect movement from people within this industry.


“Editors know that when people go home at night, instead of watching TV they switch on their laptop or iPad” - Susannah, GetTheGloss


“Editors have been able to manage their fate in the downturn by engaging with their audience in other ways. Readership of physical papers and magazines will continue to decline and it is the publishers responsibility to find ways to monetise their audience.”


in


those customers move too.


have


allowed customers to have great style without having lots of money; it’s made women smart about where they spend. At Style-Passport we understand our customer and we reflect this on the


24 entrepreneurcountry


Like Sarah Walter of Style-Passport.com, Alison was focused on enhancing the customer experience in ways that aren’t possible in the print world. “I think Editors are great at customer service because they speak to their customers directly” she says. “I am obsessed about customer service and I can talk to customers even more online and build that personal relationship.


“We may not be physically in front of our customer but working online enables a close, instant relationship with just a click. Every time we get a new customer we send them a survey to find out more about their experience of the brand and we constantly refine our offering through that data.”


Alison is also keen to stress that the print publications that are thriving “are the ones looking at data and finding out what else they can sell to their audience.” Sarah Vine of Get the Gloss agrees. “I’ve become an analytics addict” says Vine. “Nothing is more useful for finding out what your


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