Daily News Archive
Brought to you by Home Furnishings Business
Former BH&G Editor Joins Wayfair
October 12,
2011 by in UnCategorized 
By Home Furnishings Business in Executive Changes on October 13, 2011
Former Better Homes & Gardens editor Kristine Kennedy has joined home furnishings Internet retailer Wayfair.com editorial director.
Kennedy, who spent 17 years at BH&G. and was the magazine's East Coast editor, brings her design expertise online at Boston-based Wayfair, where she will work to enhance customer experience with inspirational editorial content, including digital features, decorating advice and more.
At Better Homes & Gardens Kennedy spent years looking at, visiting, writing about and directing photography of homes from coast to coast. The results of her work were multi-page magazine stories with beautiful photography and practical advice for readers.
She views leaving traditional media for the emerging world of e-commerce content to be the next step in providing service to people who care about their homes.
"Magazine readers are constantly asking for product information, because they want to create the looks they love in their own homes," said Kennedy. "Wayfair's vast selection helps people actually make that happen."
Kennedy also sees demand for home-related content migrating online. The recession brought on a slew of shelter magazine closures, such as House & Garden, Domino, ReadyMade, and Cottage Living. When the magazines went away, the readers were still left hungry for the types of content that an e-commerce site like Wayfair.com can provide.
"I plan to infuse Wayfair.com with helpful, engaging, and fun features that really capitalize on the interactivity of the Internet," Kennedy said. "The goal is to enrich the site experience for our 11 million visitors each month--giving them a reason to hang out with the Wayfair brand whether they are buying something that day or not."
Kennedy knows what works for real people and what doesnt, especially amid todays challenging housing market, said Niraj Shah, Wayfair.com's CEO and co-founder.
"Kris is someone who really understands our core customer, a person who cares about her home but who wants good value and service in making that happen," Shah said. "In her magazine career, Kris provided ideas and guidance to readers with different house styles and a variety of decorating styles, in all regions of the country, which is exactly what we want to do at Wayfair. It's a perfect fit."
Though still in the planning stages, Kennedys content strategy for Wayfair.com involves improving the customer's experience everywhere she or he touches the brand outside of the transaction itself. That may include interactive planning tools, trend information, original photography, partnerships with experts, a robust blog and social media outreach.
"Most people have an amalgam of styles in their homes, collected over the years," Kennedy said. "The question is how do you put those items together in a way that reflects your personality today? What can you switch up to make the room live better or say something about you? That's what our content will address. With Wayfair's catalog at my fingertips, I'll have a lot to work with, creating accessible designs that can satisfy all budgets and styles."
While Kennedy's influence will be seen in the overall visuals for the home goods mega-site, and in the Wayfair blog this year, her first features are scheduled for first-quarter 2012. Kennedy also will be positioned as one of the new faces of Wayfair, in addition to other Wayfair experts, including several designers from home-oriented TV shows.