Business

Practical eCommerce Increases Digital Offerings, Drops Printed Magazine

Practical eCommerce is dropping its printed magazine to focus exclusively on the digital delivery of its editorial content. The company began in July 2005 with a mission to publish easy-to-follow articles and advice that help businesses succeed online. This editorial content was originally delivered mainly through a monthly, printed magazine.

But now, in 2008, the content is delivered via this interactive website that includes expert articles, blogs, podcasts, a directory and an ecommerce job board, with reader comments and suggestions posted from all of those. It also includes a twice-weekly email newsletter, EcommerceNotes, and soon a second newsletter for the developer community called EcommerceDeveloper.

Shift in reading and advertising habits

Practical eCommerce’s revenue comes almost exclusively from advertising. But companies who advertise to ecommerce businesses have largely shifted their expenditures to online ads, and away from printed ads. More ecommerce merchants read Practical eCommerce’s content online than they did in the printed magazine. So the dropping of the printed magazine is, at least internally to us, almost anti-climatic.

The migration of advertising dollars from traditional printed magazines and newspapers is not unique to us, of course. International Data Group, a leading technology publisher, has been shutting down printed magazines for several years now and shifting the delivery of that content across a variety of dynamic websites, podcasts and newsletters. In an interview with The New York Times, IDG founder Patrick McGovern said, “There is life after print . . . in fact, a better life after print.”

In our minds, there’s never been a more exciting time to report, write and deliver stories and ideas. And for you, our cherished reader, we intend to deliver better content across a variety of platforms. That’s better content after print, and a better life.

Kerry Murdock
Kerry Murdock
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