Magazine publisher Future has launched an e-commerce site to sell knitting patterns, project materials and other crafts items, cutting across its Simply Knitting, The Knitter, Cross Stitcher and Mollie Makes magazines.
“This is a first for Future as The Making Spot will be an e-commerce website, designed to enhance the customer experience, but also drive revenue in a new and exciting way,” says the group’s craft portfolio publisher Kerry Lawrence in a press release.
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A year ago, Advent Ventures partner Frédéric Court wrote on paidContent that content and commerce are a marriage made in heaven: “Media companies now have a chance to monetise their audiences not just through plain ads, but also through transactions.”
Craft has been undergoing an online revival (see this piece I wrote for Wired in 2007). The Making Spot is not just a shop but a resource, containing 3,000 projects, 2,000 tutorials, a community – and a catalogue of associated materials for free and for sale.
Bricks-and-mortar craft commerce specialist Hobbycraft sells items online, underpinned by seasonal inspiration projects.