Case Study: Scientific American achieves modernized subscriptions and real-time multi-format access to its 167-year archive with Ultra Commerce

Scientific American - Customer Case Study

Scientific American, the U.S.'s oldest continuously published magazine (with over 3.5 million print readers and 3.8 million monthly unique web visitors), faced inefficient legacy systems that made managing and selling 167 years of content difficult. To modernize subscriptions, paywalls and content commerce, Scientific American evaluated and selected Ultra Commerce’s API-based eCommerce platform integrated with a new content management system.

Ultra Commerce worked closely with Scientific American to migrate content and launch eCommerce in six months, integrating with the legacy CDS fulfillment system and enabling real‑time paywall access across browser, PDF and tablet formats. The Ultra Commerce solution made the entire 167-year archive and 150,000+ pages accessible as products or subscriptions (with 18 defined subscription benefits), gave marketing teams flexible promotions and landing pages, and delivered scalable reporting and admin tools to streamline support and drive faster time-to-market.

Scientific American

Angela Cesaro

Senior Digital Product Manager