Birchbox & Women’s Health Offer More than Just a Mag Subscription

In recent history’s winding succession of magazine e-commerce partnerships (with yesterday’s Condé Nast announcement of a $20 million investment in farfetch blowing them all out of the water), a few have made more sense than others.  Some, like Esquire‘s menswear site Clad, have even shut down.  The emerging lesson for magazines seems to be to either go all in, à la Condé — though that new deal has yet to prove itself — or find some small, flexible one-off to test the retail waters.