People are buying cooking, beauty and fitness products at home & Lifestyle Magazines are reaping the LOVE

Lifestyle publications are seeing a major lift in revenue driven by e-commerce transactions. People are watching and people are shopping. That's a good thing.

Powerhouses Hearst Magazines (publishers of Food Network, Cosmo and Good Housekeeping Magazines) & Meredith (publishes of Shape, Martha Stewart Living and InStyle) way in.

“Since the world began sheltering, we saw sales similar to the height of the 2019 holiday season, which is our biggest time of year,” says Emily Silverman, senior director of e-commerce and partnerships at Hearst Magazines. “Every single title across the portfolio has seen an increase in e-commerce-driven product sales.”

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Join us this afternoon for #craftwithGH on Facebook Live! This time, we're making paper dolls. Here's what you'll need: *Paper doll template (found at the link in our bio) *Cereal, pasta, or pantry boxes *Craft paint or makers *Construction paper *Yarn (optional) *Fabric scraps (optional) *Craft glue *Scissors

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In March. Hearst’s brands helped generate approximately one-million product sales in through commerce content, a 143% increase over March 2019, Silverman says, adding that April sales were pacing 358% ahead of 2019 as of last week.

“We’ve continued with our core strategy: create content that’s highly relevant to what our readers need...” Silverman says. “One of the top commerce stories on Cosmo right now is about at-home laser hair removal...an essential service the Cosmo reader needs guidance on with her usual salons and services unavailable.”

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Seems like the perfect night to ignore all those unread work emails, no? 🛁 Photographed by @rosalineshahnavaz for our May issue 💥

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Andy Wilson, SVP of consumer revenue at Meredith Corp., has noted a “significant shift” in consumer interest toward cooking at home, and that sales of cooking supplies have seen a sharp increase, as have shelter-in-place essentials like face masks, hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies and home office furniture and accessories.

“Most brands across Meredith’s portfolio are continuing to experience strong e-commerce/affiliate performances,” he tells Folio:. “We’re on track to drive over $500 million in retail sales this year.”

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