Zinio introduces in-app ecommerce system at FIPP Ibero-American Conference

Joan Sola, president, Zinio International, Spain, revealed some exciting new innovations the company is currently rolling out, today (31 October 2012), at the FIPP Ibero-American Conference.

Earlier on this afternoon, Martha Stone, CEO, World Newsmedia Network, USA, made a prediction: “In-app ecommerce will grow. By 2015, more than half of the revenue made on apps will be ecommerce embedded in app.” Zinio appear to be one step ahead, as they have just introduced this feature within their platform.

Sola demonstrated this new tool using an edition of Cosmopolitan, where users can read about a product on a page and in one click, are able to see not only a price for the item, but also information on pricing in other areas of the market. The tool allows a reader to purchase the product, or save the item to a list, and watch its pricing fluctuate (hence having time to decide whether to buy or not). Of course, this tool has the potential to be a huge new revenue stream for publishers.

After collaborating with Microsoft, Zinio has also just launched a Windows 8 app that adapts to the style and design of the new platform. The Windows 8 app offers publishers the opportunity to showcase their brands on an additional platform and increase their market share. Sola said: “Up until now, only two key players (Apple and Android) have been recognised, but now companies like Gartner are predicting that in two years, the Windows 8 platform will reach the same growth levels of Android.”

Key stats from Sola:
•    Print users spend an average of 45 minutes with an issue each month
•    Readers using an iPad spend 160 minutes
•    40 per cent of all buyers continue to purchase from a PC, desktop or laptop
•    Sharing content from your magazine via social networks such as Facebook “feeds the social funnel and creates more engagement, bigger audiences and more data”