The site, which launches at the end of the month, aims to create a group of members who will be invited to take part in designer sales. The group will be drawn from the readership of Bauer's fashion titles, including Grazia, Pop and Arena Homme +.
Bauer is not the only publisher extending its magazine brands online. Conde Nast already offers specific retail-purchasing options through its Stylefinder website, while IPC offers click-to-buy services on the online home for Look magazine. However, Bauer's business model involves working with brands directly to offer 48-hour sales on its site to members.
This price-focused strategy will pit Bauer against brands such as Asos.com, which recently posted soaring profits. The latter's sales more than doubled in the six months to the end of September, compared with the same period last year, and it is a slice of this burgeoning market that Bauer is after.
Asos.com is unperturbed by the entrance of a competitor. The brand's head of media, Terri Westlake, predicts that Bauer will struggle to make a serious impact. 'The private membership model it has gone for is very niche,' she says. 'It's hard to believe that it has the skills and investment required to be very good in this market. It is brilliant at producing magazines, but the amount of high-end product available is low. It's hard to see it making serious revenue from it.'
Bauer's relatively tardy entry to the market means many rivals will already have nailed down a loyal customer base. Katrin Magnussen, a senior fashion analyst at Mintel, says: 'All the best sites launched some time back and have established positions in the market. New entrants need to offer something special to lure consumers.'
However, publishers offering extensive online purchasing do have an advantage over regular web companies. Their editorial brands have an existing rapport with consumers, and they can bolster deals by offering brands promotions in their magazines.
Cocosa managing director Andrew Robb confirms that every sale it runs will include an editorial feature on the brand. 'Our differentiation is the high-end positioning we are aiming for. No other site will have the quality of the brands we are working with,' he says.
The Bauer model differs even from its publishing cohorts. Conde Nast's Stylefinder, for example, has an online retail option but it operates through a link that redirects shoppers to brand's own web-sites. The site has grown significantly since its launch, and Serena Privett, commercial manager of CondeNet UK, says it is important in an economic climate where consumers are spending more time searching for the best value.
'There has been an increase in page impressions over the past few months. Consumers are carefully researching their purchases before hitting the high street,' she adds. 'Bauer's launch of Cocosa is an exciting one for consumers, as there is little competition within this market.'
While Bauer has its rivals in the online publishing e-tail sector, its main competition will come from other discounted designer clothing sites such as Yoox.com and BrandAlley.co.uk.
Bauer's plans are ambitious, and it will have to work hard to make Cocosa a significant revenue earner. The credit crunch notwithstanding, at the time of writing, Rouland Mouret's latest Pigalle wool dress had sold out at Net-A-Porter.com, despite its price of almost £1000.
It is difficult to see how Bauer's focus on price and sales will sit with high-end designers whose brands are built on exclusivity. Bauer itself is cagey about the brands it will feature, and while Stylefinder has a strong editorial positioning, with the latest looks coming straight from the hallowed pages of Vogue, it remains to be seen how Bauer will compete.
Even if Bauer is focused on price, it faces stiff competition from eBay, where cottage industries have sprung up based on fashionistas selling the latest looks from the US to UK consumers, who are benefiting from the weak dollar. The company's plans are admirable, but its success among discount-hungry consumers is far from assured.