document: Click to Buy Vogue Bag as Magazines Become E-Tailers -LRB- Corrects website name in 21st paragraph . -RRB- April 1 -LRB- Bloomberg -RRB- - Vogue and Elle have long influenced what clothes and handbags image-conscious consumers buy . Now , in a bid to reverse flagging sales and stay relevant , fashion magazines may sell the products they feature in their articles . As Apple Inc. 's iPad and other mobile devices change the way people stay informed and shop , e-commerce is creeping onto editorial agendas . Fashion magazines that have gone as far as to add links on their websites to online vendors such as Yoox SpA , may integrate the reading and buying experience , a move that would transform the likes of Vogue and Elle from just trendsetters into virtual shopkeepers . `` Gone are the days when consumers want to flip through the back of a magazine to find an index , '' said Shannon Edwards , European director of online shopping portal ShopStyle . Combining retail and editorial `` is natural from an economic standpoint and natural from a consumer standpoint . '' Hearst Magazines , publisher of Cosmopolitan and Esquire , will introduce `` a series of e-commerce partnerships '' this year , according to David Carey , president of the unit of New York-based Hearst Corp. . Vogue , Conde Nast Publications ' flagship fashion title , allied last month with Yoox , the Italian Internet clothing and accessories retailer . Fashion magazines , grappling with a slide in circulation and advertising revenue , are looking to claw back ground lost to shopping websites such as Asos Plc and Net-A-Porter - owned by Compagnie Financiere Richemont SA - that are winning sales and influence . Fashion brands are also elbowing their way into the market , introducing digital titles like LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA has done with Nowness . Fading Fortunes `` Fashion magazines are fighting for their lives , '' said Uché Okonkwo , executive director of Luxe Corp. , a consulting firm based in Paris . About $ 1.57 billion was spent last year on apparel and accessories ads in U.S. magazines - down from more than $ 2 billion in 2008 - as luxury goods companies cut budgets or put funds elsewhere , according to the Association of Magazine Media . Both Hearst and Conde Nast closed magazines during the global economic crisis . At Time Inc. , the publisher of InStyle and Essence , publications ' ad revenue plunged 22 percent in 2009 and rebounded only 3 percent last year . Paris-based Lagardere SCA , which owns Elle , saw a similar weak recovery in 2010 after a 24 percent drop a year earlier . Fashion magazines ' print circulation is flat or falling as more readers move online . Vogue 's circulation fell 1.5 percent in 2010 to about 1.25 million . Elle 's slid about 0.5 percent to 1.11 million , Audit Bureau of Circulations figures show . Net-A-Porter Meanwhile , sites such as Net-A-Porter are gaining ground . Founded in 2000 by former fashion journalist Natalie Massenet , Net-A-Porter was acquired last year by Richemont and features catwalk footage , style tips and designer interviews as well as a catalogue of clothes and accessories . `` It 's a kind of fashion magazine of the future , '' said Hearst 's Carey . `` We have to find a way to respond to that . '' Turning into e-tailers may be challenging for magazines . In addition to logistical and technological hurdles , magazines may have to contend with an erosion of editorial independence . Fully integrating shopping into editorial content would mean allowing readers to jump from a handbag or shoe in a photo spread to a page offering it for sale in a single click , rather than forwarding them elsewhere for purchases . That `` may be breaking the rules a little bit , '' if advertisers are directly involved , said Jonathan Reynolds , a professor at the University of Oxford 's Institute of Retail Management . ` Substantial Challenge ' Adding content to e-commerce is easier than adding e - commerce to content , according to Okonkwo . EBay Inc. hired a former editor at Conde Nast 's Lucky and Heart 's Harper 's Bazaar magazines as creative director for its fashion portal . Building the logistics and technology required for e-commerce would be `` a substantial challenge '' for Vogue , Okonkwo said . `` Vogue is n't built to sell products , '' she said . That partly explains why magazines have n't done more than add links to fashion brands ' e-commerce websites . Harper 's Bazaar partnered with Net-A-Porter last fall to pick out bags , shoes and clothing available from the shopping site with a single click . Vogue Italia and Yoox followed last month , focusing on products by young designers that could be bought from Yoox 's multibrand shopping site thecorner.com . It 's not clear how revenue from the online transactions will be divided between the partners . Maurie Perl , a spokeswoman for Conde Nast , declined to comment , while Michael Volpatt , a spokesman for Hearst 's digital operations , did n't immediately respond to requests for comment . Monetizing Trust Because readers trust recommendations by magazines , `` we have to find the proper ways to monetize that , '' Hearst 's Carey said . Yoox 's alliance with Vogue Italia `` was n't a one-off , '' said Federico Marchetti , chief executive officer of Yoox , declining to comment further . Determining who gets control of or access to user information - credit-card details , addresses , and surfing and shopping histories that can be used to target advertising and offers - may represent a major hurdle . Retaining data `` from a significant number of people means you 're in business for anything you want to sell , '' said Alex Wisch , a Standard & Poor 's Equity Research analyst in London . Consumers will take time to adjust to the change , according to Jean-Michel Noir , CEO of Redcats , the online fashion and home-furnishings retailer owned by PPR SA . Redcats operates two sites for its Vertbaudet brand , one of which is content-based and the other which sells products . `` We have n't merged them , '' Noir said . `` I 'm not saying this is the way we will look at things forever but it 's not that easy to do everything on one site . '' Still , sliding ad revenue may force fashion magazines to do just that , Oxford 's Reynolds said . `` I think magazines are looking at the ad revenue shortfall , and saying , ` we need to do more . ''' - Editors : Vidya Root , Celeste Perri To contact the reporters on this story : Andrew Roberts in Paris at aroberts36@bloomberg.net; Matthew Campbell in Paris at mcampbell39@bloomberg.net . To contact the editor responsible for this story : Celeste Perri at cperri@bloomberg.net . Vidya Root at vroot@bloomberg.net
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