Q Talk

[Calcgirl]

I am looking forward to this! Tired of QVC and their loud hosts.  I also hope Lisa R is involved.  She is a class act.

[stellabystarlight]

I had no idea that Amazon was contemplating doing this.  I don't think, though, that Lisa Robertson would agree to a two-year non-compete clause.  Isn't it usually one-year.  I think she is coming back to the Q as a vendor.  Of course, this is just my personal opinion.

[lovestopaint]

Why not Lisa?

And they usually only have to wait a year.

[Mz iMac]

An updated article:

Amazon to join HSN and QVC in the TV shopping business

Friday, November 6, 2015 1:51pm

Thanks to Amazon, you can pretty much buy anything from anywhere.

You can shop from your phone with the Amazon app or use the Amazon Kindle Fire. There's even the Amazon Dash Button, which is a button you press to refill orders on staples like laundry detergent, diapers or soda.

Now Amazon has announced it's planning to launch its own home shopping television
network, not all that different
from what St. Petersburg-based HSN is doing nationwide from our back yard.

Amazon's latest announced move may seem a little antiquated (given the whole button technology and all) but it could have a significant effect on how we shop.

Amazon's move is designed to expand the way you can buy stuff from your television screen with the Amazon Fire Stick (basically a fancy remote) and Amazon TV. On Amazon's show, shoppers will be able to buy right from their TV screens (HSN has a similar service).

No need to call toll free and list your credit card number to someone in a call center somewhere. You also don't have to reach to grab your phone or laptop to find that necklace or cooking pan online.

You press a button on the remote. The TV set records the order. That's it. Amazon is expected to roll out this new program next year.

It's an interesting move, given the two largest television shopping channels, HSN and QVC, are constantly struggling to find ways to attract new customers, said Britt Beemer, chairman and CEO of America's Research Group, a retail consulting agency.

"Is there even a demand for this? There's been no growth in the number of consumers shopping by television in three years," Beemer said. "The majority of their business is repeat customers, but the number of new viewers isn't growing."

QVC admits that nearly half of its revenue comes from the Web now, and is focused on aggressively pushing mobile purchasing platforms.

"They (QVC and HSN) are trying to reinvent the TV shopping model that has become antiquated. The idea is to use their products to get people to buy more products from them," said Faith Hope Consolo, chairman of the Retail Group with Douglas Elliman Real Estate in New York City.

HSN's shares plummeted last week in response to the company's weak third- quarter earnings report. QVC's growth was relatively flat.

"Clearly, our performance in the third quarter did not represent what we expect for the business," HSN CEO Mindy Grossman said on a call with analysts.

Amazon has made a habit of trying to be in every business there is. Some concepts are more successful than others. Remember when it tried to launch its own Fire phone? Yeah, neither did I until I Googled "Amazon fails."

Or how about Prime Day, that time when Amazon tried to create Black Friday-like shopping havoc online on a random day in July? It was disappointing.

The retailer just launched a home services program in Tampa Bay in which you can use Amazon.com to book services like house painting and yard work. And this past week, it opened a brick-and-mortar bookstore in Seattle.

"Amazon makes some of the weirdest business decisions based on instinct and, many times, they're wrong. They're not very profitable right now," Beemer said.

So what does this mean for HSN and QVC, which have relied on this concept for decades to be profitable? Beemer says they've got bigger fish to fry than to worry about Amazon's latest fling.

"HSN should keep doing what they're doing and focus on what kind of incentives they can offer to get their existing customers base to come back and back and back," Beemer said.

Grossman doesn't sound like she's taking Amazon lightly.

"We take any competitive entry, especially from the likes of Amazon, very seriously," she said.

ARTICLE LINK

[MalteseMomma]

OMG thats all I need!   I will be in BIG trouble!!!   I shop Amazon daily now  with just stuff that pops into my mind,that I suddenly  need.  I can just imagine if I saw their stuff selling on TV

[stevieb]

Here's hoping they don't take a page from QVC's book... One moribund home shopping outfit is more than enough... And, to be fair, the other two aren't exactly setting the world on fire either... As for Lisa, I suppose she could be invovled, but I'd also have to wonder if going back to hosting is really in her game plan... 

[DoneTryin]

---

@only shops online wrote:

I think this article explains the rumors.  I can't imagine Amazon would actually launch a shopping network. 

http://www.streamingmedia.com/Articles/Editorial/Featured-Articles/Comment-Is-Fire-TV-Really-Just-Ho...

---

Thanks for posting.  Fire TV is just another way of shopping by remote, which HSN has had for several years now.  Guess it's just too much work to get up off the couch, go get the pc or ipad or other such device, to go online to order.  LOL!

[chrystaltree]

I would think that if it is true, Amazon would want younger, hipper, cooler hosts.  Their core customer probably won't be 56 year old ladies from the burbs.  

[NativeJax]

I started watching QVC and HSN when my granny became ill and watched it with her. It was actually Lisa R who I enjoyed the most. I have only been purchasing the past couple of years and not a big spender either.
I would think the younger generation enjoys getting out and shopping verses sitting at home but I am not knowledgable regarding marketing strategies and numbers in these markets.
I never would have imagined sitting at home in my younger days ordering from TV. I was always out with friends or with my son enjoying his activities.

[jaxs mom]

Well I'm excited, I buy a ton of stuff from Amazon.