Barnes & Noble started selling magazine subscriptions online earlier this week, in a move that could help boost sales for many titles.
More than 1,000 print and digital magazines have gone up on BN.com at largely reduced rates. A year-long print subscription to Cosmopolitan, for example, will cost BN.com users $18.00 — a 67% discount from the $55.77 cover price.
“Magazine publishers benefit from having a new sales channel targeted toward a demographic that loves reading and learning,” said Tony Astarita, VP of digital products for Barnes & Noble.com, via e-mail.
“There is, of course, a great deal of overlap in terms of what titles are sold online and in our stores,” he continued. “The great thing about online is that we can offer thousands of titles without the worry of running out of display space, and this vast title selection is also available to our in-store customers by using our in-store kiosks to order any magazine subscription sold on BN.com.”
The new program was created in response to customer requests for an option to buy magazines online. Astarita also noted that BN.com is the only retailer offering both digital and physical magazines in the same shopping experience.
Subscription agency M2 Media Group will help the retailer fulfill print orders, and digital magazine publisher Zinio will fulfill digital orders, which can be read on computers. Zinio is also extending its “See Inside” feature — which allows users to preview books on BN.com — to show digital magazine previews on the site.
