ne increasingly common entry on an e-shopper's list is magazines. According to a recent survey, Power Shopper, by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), 19 per cent of online shoppers have bought magazines and 26 per cent are likely to do so in the near future. Books are already a favourite on an e-shopper's list, clocking the highest sales for any shopping portal. The natural extension of books, most feel, is magazines. Indiatimes, for instance, already has a big collection while Fabmall wants to expand it.

Sify has also launched an online magazine subscription service. The portal offers more than 100 magazines, "The figure is expected to reach 130 in a couple of days. We will have over 1,000 magazines, including regional ones, in the next couple of months," says Pankaj Chandra, head of interactive services, Sify. ... more