Blog: Etailers must emulate Vogue to keep site visits up

Etail giant Asos launched a weekly magazine via its iPhone app last week as it seeks to further advance its fashion credentials.

Asos was one of the first to realise that shoppers don’t just visit clothing websites to buy; they increasingly want style advice, something to engage with and sometimes just pure, unadulterated entertainment.

Its new app, called Fashion Up, includes trends, celebrity style features, street style and fashion and beauty how-to-guides. It also has exclusive music content with indie band Two Door Cinema Club performing acoustically for the first edition.

Asos’s compelling content gives its credibility and make it a valid fashion destination whether shoppers are looking to buy right now or not.

In fact, its physical magazine is second only to Glamour in terms of readership in UK fashion mags, ahead of Cosmo, Look and Stylist. That is a very powerful tool for a business to have.

The etailer has furnished itself with a team of fashion journalists, led by former Elle online editor Melissa Dick, who make sure its site is a must-visit for every young fashionista.

It appears to have set a trend, particularly for pureplays. Net a Porter hired former Harper Bazaar editor Lucy Yeomans as its editor-in-chief earlier this year, a role ex Esquire editor Jeremy Langmead undertakes for men’s equivalent Mr Porter.

However multichannel players are also following suit. A quick visit to the Oasis or Topshop websites show how retailer’s content increasingly reads like a fashion magazine with celebrity features and fashion shoots aplenty. But to keep your site, or app, in the top-read lists you have to offer your customer base more than just products and prices.