topic Re: Zulily layoffs in Q Talk

Zulily layoffs

TY — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 13:18:54 GMT

Qurate's Zulily brand isn't doing so great.

From Retail Dive:

https://www.retaildive.com/news/zulily-to-lay-off-undisclosed-number-of-employees-amid-sales-slump/560110/

Zulily to lay off undisclosed number of employees amid sales slump

Re: Zulily layoffs

Carol Diane — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 13:44:11 GMT

Whatever Qurate touches......

Re: Zulily layoffs

GAQShopr53 — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 14:00:40 GMT

My heart goes out to those workers caught in the middle of these layoffs but I can see where Zulily's sales would decline. I love to shop at Zulily and part of the deal is the wait times to receive your items. I am okay with that but I do have issues with their shipping prices not being consistent. Yes, you can purchase one item and ship all day but rarely do you find items that just ship for free.

Re: Zulily layoffs

Spurt — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 15:56:51 GMT

So sad for the workers impacted by layoffs....

This is a bit scary for Qurate because Zulilly used to be their shining star in terms of increases in sales while HSN struggled badly and QVC remained flat and sales declined for them 1st quarter...

Re: Zulily layoffs

Kachina624 — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 16:21:30 GMT

Zulily got a new CEO not too long ago. I've noticed a decline in the quality and variety of merchandise ever since. The website is also cumbersome. They used to have some lovely things for the home; now they have jumk. They seem to be replacing name brand shoes with cheap Chinese made krap. No more known clothing brands.

Re: Zulily layoffs

SahmIam — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 16:22:15 GMT

I have never shopped at that site and don't know anyone who has. Is/was it that popular?

Re: Zulily layoffs

GCR18 — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 16:24:52 GMT

I shop Zulily, but I may go days or weeks without checking the site. I don't think they have the variety they used to have. I also could be missing it. I usually spot check prices and more times than not, the item is less elsewhere. I still manage to do damage there. Of course, I feel horrible for the employees losing their jobs.

Re: Zulily layoffs

Annabellethecat66 — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 16:33:20 GMT

One word....."AMAZON". Most of the people (myself included) goes to Amazon for just about everything.

My daughter said she needed a new printer. I got on line to Amazon and late the next day (in Florida) it was delivered to her. Did I mention it was $100, free shipping and included in that price was an extra entire set of ink.

My other daughter sends Amazon gift cards to everyone, as I do.

I shutter though because Amazon is in the process of moving very close to me....Ugh! More traffic and ............

Re: Zulily layoffs

morganjen — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 16:45:05 GMT

J Crew is cutting staff, too.

https://www.ibtimes.com/j-crew-layoffs-retailer-cuts-dozens-corporate-jobs-2809705

Re: Zulily layoffs

alarmclock — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 16:58:27 GMT

@SahmIam wrote:
I have never shopped at that site and don't know anyone who has. Is/was it that popular?

I guess it was. I have never shopped there either but I thought it was a sort of closeout place for name brands.

If they have stopped carrying name brands, what's the point? That was their reason to exist.

Re: Zulily layoffs

Caaareful Shopper — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 17:18:43 GMT

I used to shop at Zulily a lot -- love most of my things. I have Clarks, Fly London, Dooney & Bourke, Isaac Mizrahi, Or Paz, Laura Geller, Bare Minerals, and Josie Maran. I also have lots of no-name brands.

It's the no-name brands that are very dicey. You have to check the measurements very, very carefully, and even then, they are sometimes wrong. Zulily CS is always fantastic though. I've returned one item, but the two or three other items that didn't work out were faults on the brand's side. I was told to just throw out the item, and I was given credit.

I don't think Zulily has a quality control department. They merely trust each individual brand to deliver their products. Buyer beware. That's why 95% of what I buy there are all established brand names I already know.

Sorry to hear about the layoffs!

Re: Zulily layoffs

Foxxee — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 17:26:10 GMT

Sales might be better if retailers stopped purchasing their products from China.

Re: Zulily layoffs

proudlyfromNJ — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 17:40:43 GMT

Then they will complain about the cost.

Re: Zulily layoffs

stevieb — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 17:45:33 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:
Zulily got a new CEO not too long ago. I've noticed a decline in the quality and variety of merchandise ever since. The website is also cumbersome. They used to have some lovely things for the home; now they have jumk. They seem to be replacing name brand shoes with cheap Chinese made krap. No more known clothing brands.

Stale, inferior merchandise, higher prices and a non-customer friendly website... Welcome to Qurate... When will those large and in charge learn to leave well enough alone... If it ain't broke, don't 'fix' it... More to the point, when will the Qurate board realize it's time to get a big broom and clean house...

Re: Zulily layoffs

Spurt — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 20:15:21 GMT

@Annabellethecat66

It sounds like you got a good price on that printer, but always comparison shop because Amazon is not always necessarily the lowest, and they play a lot of pricing games.

One of their Exec's said they count on customers THINKING they are have the lowest price and they get the sale, but truth be told they aren't always the cheapest. And he also said, they might lower the price on an item to beat a competitor's price, and then raise the price on other items to make up the difference...they do this a thousand times a day on thousands of items......

Re: Zulily layoffs

goldensrbest — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 20:19:00 GMT

They seem to have the same items over ,and over ,like qvc.

Re: Zulily layoffs

Annabellethecat66 — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 20:41:23 GMT

@Spurt Oh! I always check around. But I also know this daughter.

If she isn't happy with it, rather than send it back, she'll just keep it (she's lazy that way).

My son-in-law who knows all things computer/etc (does it for a living) has helped me get several Canon Printers. He really believes in Canon and I've had good luck with them.

One gimmick that drives me crazy about HP is their 'let us never let you run out of ink' thing they promote.

They want you to sign up with them where they are constantly sending you lots of ink for your printer.

EXCUSE me. But I want to buy my ink when and where I want to get it! My son-in-law get the ink for Canon printers for next to nothing. He keeps me supplied in ink.

I also know most printers come with a small amount of ink in the cartridges they give you to start with.

Thanks for your post. I enjoy reading your posts as they are thought provoking and interesting without attacking the poster.

Re: Zulily layoffs

TY — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 21:42:54 GMT

When I read the article about Zulily I realized that I hadn't looked at their site in months. I had removed the app from my ipad mini so I redownloaded it but still haven't opened it today. I realize that Zulily ships to Canada but in my mind they are competing with Winners and Homesense in Canada (both stores are under the TJX corporate umbrella) and I shop at their bricks and mortar store more than anywhere else for my asian beauty products as well as other north american name brand beauty products. I don't shop there very much for clothes but always look at the clothes and shoes there. A lot of my kitchen stuff was bought at those stores and so was a lot of my furniture when I had a minivan.

I also looked to see when was the last time I opened the QVC app and the HSN app and it was months ago too. I am not an amazon shopper. I really dislike their dynamic crazy prices that they think Canadians will or would pay for some items. Not gonna happen.

Qurate reports their last quarter earnings on August 7 from a recent post by Linda Moss' Homeshoppingista blog. I bet it won't be pretty.

https://homeshoppingista.wordpress.com/2019/07/14/qvc-hsn-parent-to-report-2q-earnings-aug-7/

Re: Zulily layoffs

Kachina624 — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 23:22:09 GMT

@Foxxee wrote:
Sales might be better if retailers stopped purchasing their products from China.

@Foxxee If China is the only place the merchandise is available, they don't have much choice, do they?

Re: Zulily layoffs

Foxxee — Sun, 04 Aug 2019 23:55:27 GMT

@Kachina624 wrote:

@Foxxee wrote:
Sales might be better if retailers stopped purchasing their products from China.
@Foxxee If China is the only place the merchandise is available, they don't have much choice, do they?

@Kachina624

There are other places. I have been seeing Indonesia, Thailand, India, Brazil, Mexico, and United States.

Just read yesterday, confirming quite a few shoe manufacturers left China. Others waiting to see how the tariffs go.

Walmart may be instrumental in bringing clothing manufacturing back to the U.S. Spending $250 billion on new start-up manufacturing in the U.S. Of course, not all of it will be clothing, though.

Not sure there are strings attached for these start-ups....can only make low cost products and sell to Walmart. We'll have to wait and see.

Because China became the leader in manufacturing, there are things they do no one else can, so it will take time for new companies to do them and China will still be used as a source.

I do think QVC could begin looking elsewhere whenever possible. I did receive a very good quality Valerie blanket made in India.