Shop til you drop to go digital, with only a quarterly print edition
Just one year after a major print relaunch, women’s magazine Shop Til You Drop is to move from a bi-weekly magazine to fortnightly digital product, with as many as 15 redundancies expected to follow as a result of the changes.
The changes sees the publisher Bauer Media move the print edition to a quarterly having only made the decision to take it bi-weekly from monthly last June, however the company said in a statement this morning that it would still have a fortnightly digital edition.
“Our investment in Shop assures a strong future for the brand and reflects the way consumers are digesting this type of content,” said Sebastian Kadas publisher of the magazine, in a statement.
“We are committed to creating strong magazine brands and communities that come to life across a variety of platforms. Recognising changing media habits, resourcing and evolving these brands to meet the ever-changing needs of consumers is key to ongoing success.”
The company also moved to dampen speculation about the impact of the changes and in particular reports that editor Alexandra Carlton would depart. “We have just announced this and are now looking at options across the company and also staffing for the quarterly,” said a Bauer spokesman. “No decisions have been made as yet. Everyone is still employed and working on the current issue as the changes do not take effect for another month.”
At the time of publishing Carlton had not responded to requests for comment however, staff at the magazine have told Mumbrella that she will leave the magazine but may stay within the company.
In the last set of Audit Bureau of Circulation figures in May the magazine had dropped around 5,000 copies since the previous quarter, with sales on just over 35,000. The magazine employs around 20 people.
The new digital focus of the publication comes after a relaunch of its website earlier this year.
Tony Kendall, director of sales for Bauer Media said: “For advertisers this is a clear sign that Bauer Media continues to evolve as a business as we offer a consumer first strategy that delivers a successful digital network that complements our dominance in print; while creating meaningful brand connections with Australian women, well ahead of every other media company.
“The investment in Shop will produce highly personalised products for women 18+ and provide advertisers access to amazing content and data opportunities.”
The changes come into effect from October 1.
Nic Christensen
“Our investment in Shop assures a strong future for the brand and reflects the way consumers are digesting this type of content,” said Sebastian Kadas publisher of the magazine, in a statement.
…as he quietly closed the masthead and sacked the remaining staff.
The harder these spin artists work on putting out a positive press release, the more I feel the complete opposite is true.
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“… we offer a consumer first strategy” – as opposed to what ~other~ type of strategy for a consumer publication?
“…a successful digital network that complements our dominance in print…” – except that we’ll be all but dropping the print edition, so much for ‘dominance’ there…
“…while creating meaningful brand connections with Australian women, well ahead of every other media company.” – errr, say what?
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“Our investment in Shop assures a strong future for the brand and reflects the way consumers are digesting this type of content,” said Sebastian Kadas publisher of the magazine, in a statement.
So sacking or “reassigning” everyone and then outsourcing it to freelancers who get paid pennies and have to chase invoices for up to 6 months is a strong investment, yeah? Just checking.
Sad for the staff. Sad for the industry. Sadly, Bauer are about 10 years behind on the digital front so not sure this move will yield anything but frustration for the remaining 6 staff on the title.
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The decision to go to bi-weekly and the change in format wrecked a magazine that seemed to be working well for both readers and advertisers. After years of buying the monthly issue, I bought one bi-weekly issue, looked at many more on the stand and never felt compelled to buy it again. The monthly issue still felt as though it had something to say whereas the bi-weekly issue seemed to head in a direction that was better served by the free blogging space. Feel sad for the staff.
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Can they bring back the Kids Qtrly edition while they’re at it? Loved it.
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Heard that all staff except one were made redundant. So much for “redeployment”
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Online store have more discount options compare to offline store.
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What a shame! I loved Shop although I did prefer it when it was a monthly mag. I hate digital editions of anything so I guess this is where my Shop addiction will end as I’m sure it will for the other 35,000 who bought it last quarter.
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