Women’s fashion retailer Net-A-Porter has launched a new digital style magazine and online store for men – confirming a growing trend of e-commerce sites branching out into editorial content to lure buyers.

MrPorter.com, which launched late last week, includes a weekly set of features and interviews about clothing, sport, food and music.

According to Fashion United, the industry is very excited about this new marriage of journalism and retail.

E-commerce site my-wardrobe.com is preparing for the $9 million launch of a new print and online magazine next month. Harrods is also preparing to add more editorial content to Harrods.com, as is eBay.

One of the first big experiments was Asos, which launched as a glossy printed magazine in 2006 and now sells 451,369 copies, narrowly behind top-seller Glamour.

One digital creative agency tells Fashion United: “The future will be a cross-channel experience where a customer uses the internet to inform their purchase in-store, or uses a catalogue to inform their purchase online.”