An article by Nat Ives was posted earlier this week on Adage.com about existing media companies and their experimental foray into e-commerce. This comes at a time when media companies in general are looking for new ways to monetize their websites. Some of the recent, notable examples include, well-known brands such as:  Martha Stewart, WSJ, Lucky and Salon.

Much of this has to do with the fact that media brand have existing, unique positions from to generate revenue from e-commerce. While regular e-commerce companies invest millions on marketing research to drive traffic to their sites and convert sales, “…media companies have an advantage in this regard, in that their content is already driving significant traffic to their site,” says Michael Kessler, managing director at Veronis Suhler Stevenson, a private-equity firm that specializes in media.

E-commerce has been growing well over the past decade, slowing down only slightly during the recent recession. According to Citi Investment research, 2009 e-commerce sales fell only 5.5% in the first quarter and 4% in the second, then increased 1.8% in the third and are slated to improve by 12% in the fourth. For comparison, advertising revenue fell over 14% in both the first and second quarters.

The ability for media companies to partner with outside retailers and technology is key in their e-commerce success. Martha Stewart Living’s original strategy revolved around e-commerce, but they failed to provide the proper inventory among other things. When they recently re-launched their store they were aided by outside retailers who carried all of the inventory and handled various other tasks.

What the media giant is good at is telling a story. Gail Horwood, senior VP-digital programming and strategy at Martha Stewart said, “…we’re experts in telling the stories behind things, and that’s really kind of the romance behind product sales…. I call it contextual commerce because it’s about providing a platform to explain why things are differentiated.”

Condé Architectural Digest is another media brand to recently open up shop. But with their content being focused on high-end home décor, the scope of audience and products to sell are much more narrow. Their model is based charging designers a commission for featuring their products in the online store. Simply stated, marketers look for the chance to advertise in environments where consumers spend time shopping.

What happens in this next year with these new e-commerce projects is anyone’s guess. “What we think this will be from a revenue perspective, honestly we don’t know,” remarked Mr. Gingras, Salon’s CEO. “I have not made forecasts. This is an experiment.”

via Nat Ives @ Adage