Marie Claire UK to ditch print after 31 years

After more than three decades, women’s lifestyle magazine Marie Claire is to cease print operations in the UK, moving solely online.

The strategy, which is not being replicated in other markets such as the US and France, was announced on Tuesday by publishers TI Media and Marie Claire Album.

Marie Claire’s UK circulation was last reported by the ABC in February, standing at just over 120,000 copies. In 1999 that figure was above 450,000, a circulation that some titles in the women’s lifestyle market – such as Good Housekeeping and freebie Stylist – still manage to secure.

However, many parts of the print magazine market have suffered from the rise of digital and changing reading habits, and marieclaire.co.uk secures the bulk of the brand’s audience with 2m monthly online users, according to the publisher’s own figures.

Its online fashion aggregator platform The Marie Claire Edit is also growing. Launched nine months ago, consumers can now search more than 6,000 brands and the affiliate platform will soon become the brand’s biggest source of digital revenue.

“For more than three decades, Marie Claire UK has led the conversation on the issues that really matter to women – from campaigning for women’s empowerment to climate change – while providing a premium fashion and beauty positioning that reflects their everyday lives,” said Marcus Rich, TI Media CEO.

“With full focus on our digital platforms, we will be future-proofing our ability to report on these vital and engaging subjects, alongside our top ranking fashion and beauty offering and media-first brand extensions, The Edit and Fabled by Marie Claire.”

As part of what TI Media called its “digital transformation”, the November 2019 issue will be the final print edition of Marie Claire UK.

The new digital-only Marie Claire UK is set to be published under a licence agreement with Groupe Marie Claire.