Condé Nast strikes deal to offer print and digital magazine subscriptions through Amazon

Condé Nast has struck a deal with Amazon to have the online retailer handle print and digital subscriptions for such titles as Vogue, Vanity Fair and Wired. According to a Reuters story, this is the first time a publisher has collaborated with Amazon in this way, simplifying its subscription process whereby consumers can subscribe, manage and renew using their Amazon account. The arrangement is not exclusive; subscribers may continue to go directly to Conde Nast or use other partners such as Apple and its Newsstand. But it also exposes these big, glossy magazines to new potential customers among Amazon's worldwide 200 million customers.

"We are using the partnership with Amazon to make purchasing and renewing subscriptions as easy as humanly possible," said Bob Sauerberg, president of Condé Nast  in an interview last Wednesday. "We want to go from selling print subscriptions to selling access to all our content."

“Combining Condé Nast's must-have content with Amazon's 1-Click shopping platform is a huge win," said Sauerberg [in a company release] “Our influential and loyal customers want to be the first to know, purchase and share, which is why we wanted to be the first to develop a service like 'All Access' with Amazon, the world’s most trusted and proven e-commerce platform.”

 Digital subscriptions will be made available on various mobile platform, including the iPad, Android and Kindle.

"Condé Nast will offer introductory bundled rates for $6 or less for six months for both print and digital versions of Vogue, Glamour, Bon Appetit, Lucky, Golf Digest, Vanity Fair and Wired," said the Reuters story. "It plans to roll out its other 11 consumer titles including the New Yorker later in the year. 

"Magazines have real deep value in both formats," said Russ Grandinetti, vice president of Kindle Content at Amazon. "A lot of consumers want to keep one foot in both camps."