topic Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out? in Community Chat

Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

lizzieborden — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 15:03:32 GMT

I wonder if shopping channels plan to "farm" out their business to actual "home" channels. Several hosts this week announced they are leaving the Network. Will they all be doing business through social media/video? I can't see it being lucrative for the channels or the hosts.

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

fthunt — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 15:10:33 GMT

That's a bazaar thought

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

Sweetbay magnolia — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 15:23:33 GMT

From what I have seen, the trend towards various media outside of TV has been long brewing (somewhere within the last decade is where I first spotted it), in all formats.

I don't see it happening soon, but of course I may be completely wrong (and how soon is soon?).

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

50Mickey — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 15:23:53 GMT

@lizzieborden I think their days might be numbered. The heyday of home shopping was before you could buy just about anything online and have it delivered to you. When I first started watching QVC, I didn't have a home computer and had to watch and call in.

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

golding76 — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 15:33:16 GMT

carrie ann has an excellent point. Recently, I've begun thinking that high consumerism -- as we have known it for several generations -- will be out of fashion for a while. This state of affairs will jeopardize all retail outlets -- brick and mortar and TV especially.

The millennials with their clean and uncluttered space philosophy, Marie Kondo and her decluttering approach to living, etc., have switched things around. We alll know that what we regarded as treasured heirlooms are devalued as "junk" by many of our children, the people we thought would cherish what we saved from great-grandmother's home.

I've begun thinking that shopping channels are now fighting for their life. That is why you see new blood infused with new-hire salespeople and veterans leaving the same channels. The times, they are a'changin'.

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

kaydee50 — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 15:34:16 GMT

@50Mickey I agree. 30+ years ago there were no other options and QVC/HSN were a novelty and fun. That is no longer true and IMO their days are numbered.

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

sidsmom — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 15:58:21 GMT

I literally bought stock in QVC back in the mid-90’s.

Didn’t make a ton but definitely yielded a profit...when it was new.

I loved the idea of someone living out on a farm in the midwest

could carry the same fancy handbag, wear the same makeup,

wear the same pretty clothes as someone in the big metroplex cities..

that was so innovative! Plus back then, I was heavier...a XL-1X

and finding pretty clothes in extended sizes was almost non-existent

in the stores. I loved Susan Graver! I do think QVC was instrumental

to have clothing manufacturers readily offer extended sizes in the

B/M stores.

Though, the internet grew...and the opportunities grew as well.

Today, we can buy anything online. I see QVC as a weigh-station

for many brands. It’s like the old shopping outlets from decades ago.

QVC’s like a Sephora-Kohl’s-Ulta-Bed-Bath-Beyond-Macy’s

type of ‘store’. Powerful brands lose their shine, head to QVC

before getting to strip-mall stores, then end up at the outlet mall.

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

sashamatthews — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 15:59:15 GMT

I don't know if this is still true, but years ago, when my local cable company cancelled QVC, I was told it was because QVC and the cable company couldn't agree on an amount the Q would kick back to the cable company every month - a percentage of sales. I wonder if something like that is still in effect. More to the point, would we shop at the Q if it was online only, similar to Amazon or others? If the price was right, I would say "yes."

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

stevieb — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 16:29:13 GMT

I suspect certain cadres of people will always like to shop and while it's glaring that the venues of choice are changing, I think TV based home shopping has shot itself in the foot. The business model, to use an overused term, is antiquated and rather than seek innovative ways and enhanced variety to, perhaps, ensure their survival, they increasingly seem to rely on the infomercial model, focusing too much time on the same few items... In the process, they're boring existing customers into oblivion and pretty much ensuring younger customers, who simply aren't willing to listen to a twenty minute spiel about a single item, aren't going to be tuning in... I think they also overestimate how much pull theoretically perky, younger hosts will have with a younger audience... I suspect younger potential customers find them just as annoying as do older customers...

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

Trinity11 — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 16:31:45 GMT

@stevieb wrote:
I suspect certain cadres of people will always like to shop and while it's glaring that the venues of choice are changing, I think TV based home shopping has shot itself in the foot. The business model, to use an overused term, is antiquated and rather than seek innovative ways and enhanced variety to, perhaps, ensure their survival, they increasingly seem to rely on the infomercial model, focusing too much time on the same few items... In the process, they're boring existing customers into oblivion and pretty much ensuring younger customers, who simply aren't willing to listen to a twenty minute spiel about a single item, aren't going to be tuning in... I think they also overestimate how much pull theoretically perky, younger hosts will have with a younger audience... I suspect younger potential customers find them just as annoying as do older customers...

Perfectly stated @stevieb and exactly my same thoughts!

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

Spurt — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 16:43:28 GMT

I dont know....Amazon keeps trying to come up wth a similar but modified concept..Amazon's first attempt failed but why would they try again??? So there must be a customer base or a need for it in today's retail world or the big A wouldn't be investing their money and time in it....And on a side note they are opening cashierless B&M stores too....

But I think QVC needs to up their game if they want to stick around....Showing the same limited products you can find everywhere, uncompetitive prices especially on clothing ,slow shipping, and the cost and expense of maintaining 3 channels which show the same thing isn't exactly the direction or plan that looks smart.....

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

cherry — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 16:36:01 GMT

I think they will always have a niche, but, I think they need to go back to the drawing board and reinvent themselves

They have strayed a long way from their roots, and it turns many off. They need to start with the hosts and product presentations..

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

golding76 — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 16:37:36 GMT

What keeps me returning to Amazon is not their rapid delivery system, which is attractive, of course. It is their wide selection.

Even before inventory became so limited as I now observe in many B& M stores today, they could never keep the vast number of items and variations of that item that Amazon had in stock. Whatever I am unable to find in a B&M outlet, I can usually find on Amazon. And that is why I return to them as much as I sometimes wish not to support them.

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

SeaMaiden — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 16:37:55 GMT

yes.... online shopping is where it is at... TV shopping will be gone in no time. They are all losing money. They will keep there online sites I am sure... but the TV part is just not intouch with what the younger generation wants.

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

Foxxee — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 17:15:35 GMT

I think home shopping channels would have a future if they stuck with products for older shoppers mainly because it's convenient and easier for them. The reason, IMO, QVC attracted so many older buyers rather than younger ones.

But, they need to reinvent themselves with new ideas and unique products all the time to keep shoppers interested enough to watch.

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

golding76 — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 17:00:44 GMT

Now that I think about it, the departure of Lisa Robertson was probably the "canary in the coal mine" in that she warned of changes to come.

My thought was never that she was let go but rather that her contract was up for renewal. Not only was QVC not going to increase her salary but, perhaps, intended to lower it in order to satisfy the bottom line. She balked, they refused her demands, she saw that online shopping (without a large corporate entity with various hosts hawking products) was flourishing -- a different model in Amazon was going gangbusters -- and the rest is history.

The hosts who have recently departed maybe were offered a reduced salary, reduced hours (which convert into a reduced salary) or suffered another sort of indignity. Maybe they need more money to live than QVC was willing to continue paying them. We are seeing the changes right before our eyes.

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

cherry — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 17:12:13 GMT

I don't even find it entertaining now. Joan and Kathy were such fun together. They would chat and sell leisurely. They always told you styling tips along with the patter

I never felt high pressure tactics fromm anyone

Now ,you aren't even able to get product information, instead you get some ditzy tale ,about someone wearing a garment ,to a place most of us will never go, and many have no desire to, in the first place

I don't care to watch hosts preen and mugg for the camera, nor do I want to see them shop on air. They are supposed to provide assistance with garment information

I shop exclusively online now

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

Foxxee — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 17:17:18 GMT

As for show hosts selling products from online home channels, Jill Bauer said last Tuesday evening she won't be selling products, but would recommend some on QVC and "elsewhere" when she does home decor and cooking demonstrations. I know of only one previous host who went into online shopping.

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

halfpint1 — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 18:52:16 GMT

Here for me the prices are getting to high. For bigger items I would rather buy around where I live in case something goes wrong.

Re: Are Shooping Channels Phasing Out?

PinkSunset — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 23:12:22 GMT

I stated some of my thoughts on the thread about the HSN hosts leaving but to expand on them,

1. Home shopping via tv is not new or fresh anymore. The products they sell can be bought anywhere and often for much better deals. In fact even when they bring in computers, cameras and high end electronics, they are last year;s models or even older than that and they throw in a bunch of junky add-ons to make the price look really high so you can see what a good deal you are getting, Nope, Not if you do your research.

2. They depend on people who watch for entertainment andf buy from impulse, I think some posters on this forum are in that category. Buy multiples of things and "stock Up and then have 10 gallons of things like WEN on hand for years. If you walked into a B&M store my best guess is you would not buy like that but on tv it is easy to sit at home and buy things and have it delivered.

3. they want us to think easy pays are the deal of the century and that's the reason to buy from them and not Amazon for instance. Well, when people are buying so much stuff and end up having overlapping easy pays month after month, you never get off that carousel. That's what they want. A never ending supply of future cash flow. Don't do it.

4. Watching some of their aging hosts sell skincare praising it and then seeing how it hasn't helped them with their skin is not my idea of a good selling tactic.

5. They push their credit cards on you while selling shish-kabobs in the kitchen, Another way to make money, credit card debt. Blah!

6. People can watch YouTubers demonstrate products and get a quick presentation of something they might want instead of hours and hours of pushy hosts blaberring on and on.

Their time has come and gone. they can';t reinvent that wheel with all the generations subsequent to baby boomers, they don't shop that way. and soon just like all the older hosts, the older shoppers won;'t be around to pay $95 for a pack of burgers and hot dogs.

I don't see them lasting another 5 years with this business model,That JMO. yours?