Q Talk

[newname0]

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@ChillyTulip wrote:

No shock here.  I used to buy all the time but the past year or two I have cut way back.  Huge price increases, high shipping charges, and stale merchandise was the ultimate trifecta affecting my QVC spending.   They are becoming irrelevent in a sea of online retailers and simply can't compete.

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Wow.  That's harsh.  I think they erred on cherry picking the merchandise when they first came in.  Using only the big sales items and forgetting about the smaller sale items.  Only women like to look at everything - big and small - and buy according to their whims.

[Buck-i-Nana]

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@Spurt wrote:

Not all retailers are singing the blues---

A number of large national retailers reporting pretty dismal quarterly sales results, such as Nordstrom’s 64% drop in profits and Macy’s string of quarterly declines. Off -price and extreme value chains (T.J. Maxx, Home Goods, Marshalls ) are doing well as shoppers increasingly seek out discounted goods, a trend likely to continue for quite some time. Amazon is booming and its stock is near an all-time high.

Consumers Rev Up Spending

Kiplinger's latest forecast on retail sales and consumer spending

By Lisa Elaine Babb, July 15, 2016

Healthy consumer spending has retailers on solid footing going into the second half of the year and the all-important year-end holiday shopping season, barring any big political or economic shocks. Leading the charge: Online retailers. For 2017, we expect the steady pace of retail sales growth to continue, with total sales gains on a par with this year’s 4% clip.

Retail and food service sales surged 0.6% in June compared with the month before, and the industry overall posted a solid 2.7% rise in revenue compared with the same period in 2015. Nonstore retailers emerged the clear winners as more and more consumers turned online to shop. Online retailers, including online marketplaces such as Amazon and Etsy, plus retailers with e-commerce sites—Walmart, Target and others—posted a whopping 14.2% gain over the same month a year ago. Expect a spike in July’s numbers as well, thanks to Amazon’s second successful Prime Day and the countless other retailers vying for clicks with online discounts.

But online sellers weren’t the only retailers busy ringing up sales in June. Health and beauty supplies continue to be a bright spot for the industry, with receipts up 8.4% from last year. Moreover, a more robust housing market is boosting sales for sellers of building materials and garden supplies. Residential construction remains steady; we expect construction of single-family units to increase 14% from last year. New housing developments, along with eager home sellers prepping existing homes to go on the market, spell welcome news for home and garden suppliers.

June wasn’t rosy for all retailers. Electronics sellers struggled to post gains. Sales were flat compared with May, and revenues were down 4.7% versus June 2015. New products will help. Revenue from wearable technologies such as computer-enabled watches and rings, plus emerging technology such as smart home devices and drones, will help nudge up consumer electronics sales by 1.2% this year versus last year, according to the Consumer Technology Association. Heading into 2017, more shoppers will also shell out for ultra-high-definition televisions, virtual reality headsets and 3-D printers.

Meanwhile, department store woes continue as they struggle to draw people into their stores while also drawing more folks to shop electronically via improved mobile sites and apps.

http://www.kiplinger.com/article/business/T019-C000-S010-retail-sales-consumer-spending-forecast.htm...

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Well there you go, the Q should just become a clearance vendor and sell at deep deep discounts.  Oops, if the Q and other retailers do that, then TJMaxx, Home Goods and Marshalls will be on the chopping block.

[Q4u]

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@Buck-i-Nana wrote:

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@Spurt wrote:

Not all retailers are singing the blues---

A number of large national retailers reporting pretty dismal quarterly sales results, such as Nordstrom’s 64% drop in profits and Macy’s string of quarterly declines. Off -price and extreme value chains (T.J. Maxx, Home Goods, Marshalls ) are doing well as shoppers increasingly seek out discounted goods, a trend likely to continue for quite some time. Amazon is booming and its stock is near an all-time high.

Consumers Rev Up Spending

Kiplinger's latest forecast on retail sales and consumer spending

By Lisa Elaine Babb, July 15, 2016

Healthy consumer spending has retailers on solid footing going into the second half of the year and the all-important year-end holiday shopping season, barring any big political or economic shocks. Leading the charge: Online retailers. For 2017, we expect the steady pace of retail sales growth to continue, with total sales gains on a par with this year’s 4% clip.

Retail and food service sales surged 0.6% in June compared with the month before, and the industry overall posted a solid 2.7% rise in revenue compared with the same period in 2015. Nonstore retailers emerged the clear winners as more and more consumers turned online to shop. Online retailers, including online marketplaces such as Amazon and Etsy, plus retailers with e-commerce sites—Walmart, Target and others—posted a whopping 14.2% gain over the same month a year ago. Expect a spike in July’s numbers as well, thanks to Amazon’s second successful Prime Day and the countless other retailers vying for clicks with online discounts.

But online sellers weren’t the only retailers busy ringing up sales in June. Health and beauty supplies continue to be a bright spot for the industry, with receipts up 8.4% from last year. Moreover, a more robust housing market is boosting sales for sellers of building materials and garden supplies. Residential construction remains steady; we expect construction of single-family units to increase 14% from last year. New housing developments, along with eager home sellers prepping existing homes to go on the market, spell welcome news for home and garden suppliers.

June wasn’t rosy for all retailers. Electronics sellers struggled to post gains. Sales were flat compared with May, and revenues were down 4.7% versus June 2015. New products will help. Revenue from wearable technologies such as computer-enabled watches and rings, plus emerging technology such as smart home devices and drones, will help nudge up consumer electronics sales by 1.2% this year versus last year, according to the Consumer Technology Association. Heading into 2017, more shoppers will also shell out for ultra-high-definition televisions, virtual reality headsets and 3-D printers.

Meanwhile, department store woes continue as they struggle to draw people into their stores while also drawing more folks to shop electronically via improved mobile sites and apps.

http://www.kiplinger.com/article/business/T019-C000-S010-retail-sales-consumer-spending-forecast.htm...

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Well there you go, the Q should just become a clearance vendor and sell at deep deep discounts.  Oops, if the Q and other retailers do that, then TJMaxx, Home Goods and Marshalls will be on the chopping block.

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Well, a lot of their electronics ARE items that are going out.... QVC sells a lot of products that would be clearanced at the other stores in a matter of months.  Some of their kitchen items too.  I love my Ninja slow cooker but I wouldn't have purchased it had I known that a new/improved model with another function and a clear lid was on it's way to retail about 9 months - year down the road.

And I bought the Rocket Grill when they presented it not realizing it was also a buy out never to be seen again (as well as their parchment bags).   I also purchased my iPad from QVC, but didn't realize that Apple was soon expecting their smaller iPad model..... which would make the larger model obsolete.  Don't get me wrong, I love my large, original iPad with all the extras that came with it (did not get a deep discount, actually paid more) .... just stating that the large original iPad quickly went out with the dinosaurs soon after I purchased mine....  so perhaps QVC is more or less a clearance vendor, only without the deep deep discounts..... 

[Corky47]

My guess is Keurig. It used to be presented all the time. 

[Mindy D]

The linked article failed to explain the reason for the overall reduction in the industry. Why are sales dropping everywhere? Are prices too high? What is up?

[Sooner]

Cheap junk from China has fed to death the American consumer.  QVC has not kept up with shipping practices and has sold the same tired sad old lines until people just can't look at it any more.  I don't know how you can make a retail outlet go today through plastic peelers, ceramic bakeware and last-year's-model electronics.

Television is the perfect venue to show and demo products, but we see little cooking, little electronics that are fresh and explained, and hours and hours of the same old same old.

But then I go into drugstores and Sephora and wonder how on EARTH people buy that much makeup.  I go into Dillards at seasons end and there are box-car loads of ugly dresses and clothing that nobody bought.  How can they keep the store open?

[febe1]

I believe the Q is not competitive anymore in quality, value or convenience. Their delivery and delivery charges & returns inhibit buying. Products are old, stale and bland. Programming is beyond bad and it seems like they program to view something else on TV. Additionally, they've forgotten, or never knew, other companies are constantly offering all kind of perks for their business. Great sales and competitive prices are everywhere. Watch for instance all the sales over Labor Day. Then watch what the Q offers.

When all the complaints started a couple years ago, I said it takes time for a company to show it in their pocketbook and now they're showing it. The Q's new plan to just own and operate that which benefits only them, cutting out all vendors which was their attraction, well..."the chickens have come home to roost."

[elated]

It doesn't surprise me. The TSV's for September are basically the same vendors--SG,Clarks ,Dooney & Burke, Lock N lock,Ryka etc. They really need to add new vendors. I remember when I was excited to watch and nowadays I barely watch. Ten hours of watching the TSV is way too much. If you don't like it at first, ten hours later is not going to change your mind. Denim & Co used to be my favorite and now not so much. I have started to go back to the B&M. They have coupons and sales and no shipping and handling. I think the shipping and handling change of policy has discouraged many shoppers. Your refund is very little after everything is deducted. They use to offer buy the first item and then you pay half of shipping charges for the next one that was the same item. Once you start taking away these offers, it turns off many people. You are losing money by shopping with them. I don't know about you but I can't afford to keep losing money. If there policy continues I feel they will lose more customers. People are not that free with their money and don't want to feel like they are being taken.

[stevieb]

And yet their response to all this has been just more smoke and mirrors...

We're not seeing any more variety.... We're not seeing any less repetition of the same brands and products... We're seeing occasional shipping breaks, but no real revision of policies that favor them and stick it to customers... We're not seeing any changes in warehousing or shipping models that promote customer incentives or more timely shipping... We're seeing a few more 'faux' promotions that really don't amount to much... We're seeing prices continue to go up for the same items... We continue to see ridiculous shipping charges for certain classes of items, like handbags... The programming continues, day in and day out and particularly on weekends, to stink... And the hosts continue, for the most part, to be annoying...