Better Homes and Gardens, which for decades has guided people in furnishing their homes, is now making it easier for those readers to do so without leaving them. In its first major e-commerce initiative, the Meredith flagship has quietly stocked a channel at BHG.com/shop with products in dozens of categories from bedroom sets to salt and pepper shakers. Meredith plans to promote the new channel in earnest next year and follow it with similar channels from Parents and Divine Caroline, Meredith’s online community for women. Meredith is one of the larger magazine publishing houses, and its product-heavy periodicals seem ready-made for e-commerce. As these magazine efforts go, BHG’s seems pretty rudimentary. Built with help from ShopNation, an e-commerce company Meredith acquired in May, the channel has no virtual shopping cart where people can park their items while they shop. In fact, shoppers have to click through to each retailer's website to make a purchase, potentially depriving BHG.com of traffic. Also, the channel isn't easily accessible through BHG's mobile site, although Meredith is working on that, along with an iPhone/iPad app just for shopping.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Meredith BHG Pushes Into E-Commerce
http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/meredith-pushes-e-commerce-145858
Better Homes and Gardens, which for decades has guided people in furnishing their homes, is now making it easier for those readers to do so without leaving them. In its first major e-commerce initiative, the Meredith flagship has quietly stocked a channel at BHG.com/shop with products in dozens of categories from bedroom sets to salt and pepper shakers. Meredith plans to promote the new channel in earnest next year and follow it with similar channels from Parents and Divine Caroline, Meredith’s online community for women. Meredith is one of the larger magazine publishing houses, and its product-heavy periodicals seem ready-made for e-commerce. As these magazine efforts go, BHG’s seems pretty rudimentary. Built with help from ShopNation, an e-commerce company Meredith acquired in May, the channel has no virtual shopping cart where people can park their items while they shop. In fact, shoppers have to click through to each retailer's website to make a purchase, potentially depriving BHG.com of traffic. Also, the channel isn't easily accessible through BHG's mobile site, although Meredith is working on that, along with an iPhone/iPad app just for shopping.
Better Homes and Gardens, which for decades has guided people in furnishing their homes, is now making it easier for those readers to do so without leaving them. In its first major e-commerce initiative, the Meredith flagship has quietly stocked a channel at BHG.com/shop with products in dozens of categories from bedroom sets to salt and pepper shakers. Meredith plans to promote the new channel in earnest next year and follow it with similar channels from Parents and Divine Caroline, Meredith’s online community for women. Meredith is one of the larger magazine publishing houses, and its product-heavy periodicals seem ready-made for e-commerce. As these magazine efforts go, BHG’s seems pretty rudimentary. Built with help from ShopNation, an e-commerce company Meredith acquired in May, the channel has no virtual shopping cart where people can park their items while they shop. In fact, shoppers have to click through to each retailer's website to make a purchase, potentially depriving BHG.com of traffic. Also, the channel isn't easily accessible through BHG's mobile site, although Meredith is working on that, along with an iPhone/iPad app just for shopping.
