Stack’s 10th anniversary relaunch: online shop and fresh new site

It’s 10 years since Stack started (woo!) and we’re marking the occasion by making some pretty major changes. The monthly subscription is still at the heart of it all, but we’re also launching a brand new online shop as a way of helping more people to enjoy more independent magazines.

So what’s new?

1. Single issues in our new online shop
The basic aim of Stack has always been to help more people enjoy independent magazines. The monthly subscription is a great way of doing that and it stays at the core of what we’re all about, but it’s kind of frustrating to only send out 12 magazines per year when there are literally hundreds of great titles out there. That’s why single issues are a big focus for our version of an online magazine shop — you’ll now be able to browse a selection of independent titles, both new and old, all presented in a colourful, shoppable stream alongside our notes explaining why they’re so special.

2. Collections
On top of single issues, we’re going to be pulling magazines together in niche, themed collections. We’ve experimented with this in the past, creating an intersectional feminism bundle, and the Europe in Crisis collection with magazines that give a critical perspective from different parts of Europe. They sold well, so we’ll be aiming to run one of these collections each month, with 25% off the package so you have more of an excuse to try a magazine you wouldn’t have otherwise.

3. Shop <--> Editorial
The shop and editorial have been built alongside each other, so when you’re browsing a product, you’ll be able to read an interview with the publishers or watch one of our video reviews on the issue. Likewise, when you’re in a blog post, you’ll be able to click a button and add that magazine to your cart.

4. Search bar & new editorial surprises
We have a search function! Look for anything from graphic design to basketball to pizzas…

The homepage stickers are dragable, and they match the stickers we printed in real life…

There’s an autoplaying function on our video reviews and podcasts, so you don’t have to leave the homepage to watch/listen.

5. 10 years of magazines
That’s a lot of magazines. You can now scroll through and look at 10 whole years worth of Stack-delivered titles. If you’re a Stack subscriber it will take you on a trip down your own memory lane of indie magazines.

Steve will be writing a more in-depth post once we get some more breathing space, explaining the decisions to go with some of these changes, but for now, we hope you like it and do let us know your thoughts. We’ll be tweaking all this over the coming weeks according to what works and what could be better…