Community Chat

[Harvard99]

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@Spurt wrote:

Here's my thoughts.....

QVC better start listening to their customer base.....

New Show titles and playing musical chairs with hosts and presenting the SAME products continuously on 3 channels isn't a formula for success!!!  We are talking about an actual 4% DECLINE in SALES..

Not a decline in revenue due to hiring more hosts, more channels, and overall cost of doing business here...we're talking sales ....and Qurate was flat for the last quarter in 2018, and overall for 2018 as a whole....so it just got worse

QxH reported sales declines in home, jewelry and beauty, which were partially offset by gains in electronics with modest growth in fashion (apparel and accessories). QxH generated strong sales growth in off-air products; however, these gains were not sufficient to offset lower sales of on-air items.   

Throw in some hosts that are unwatchable ...

And jewelry continues it's decline....hey QVC, maybe it's due to abandonment of modestly priced jewelry and instead replacing it with very pricey items and then pushing special financing through it's Q Card....NOT A GOOD STRATEGY...

Too many beauty shows !!! When customers can't even watch a fashion show without half of it being beauty products, plus IT Cosmetics and Argon Oil on 95% every darn weekend...its called OVERSATURATION....no wonder they dropped Beauty IQ...not worth the expense compred to sales..

And decline in home....maybe presenting the SAME ole vacuums, fans, shredders, humidifiers, power washers, patio umbrellas, mattresses and beds, a $200 mop isn't working to attract new or existing customers

And I predict that Jill Martin's new GILI line will send the Home category spiraling down further

Frankly I am surprised apparel had a MODEST gain due to 

high prices, and all lines looking alike....

Why even Qurate's shining star, Zulily which is tracked separately from HSN/QVC, had a 5% decline....after a 6% increase...

I think Zulilly's woes describes Qurates woes-- decrease in new customers and lower frequency of purchases from existing customers

And I have to give a shout out to all those that told us continuously to "change the channel"  I guess your advice was heeded and worked

Sadly the Execs are CLUELESS!

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Hey Mods, How about sending @Spurt 's great post to someone at the top.  Thanks!

[laraffinee]

Well, I order almost nothing now, because my last 3-4 orders were lost and I think they are still even listed as in process! I got refunds, but I lost out on the products and deals that I wanted in bedding, jewelry, and a top.

If they can't process orders properly, they will lose sales. They've lost mine. I don't need the hassle of tracing an order that went off into space somewhere or was never processed in the first place, while I got billed. Too much trouble.

[Mary Bailey]

hey, they can't blame me.  I've done my part!   (smile)

[SilleeMee]

The way I see things, I think home shopping networks will be going the way of the dodo. 

[stevieb]

As noted elsewhere, since there are a couple of threads about this, I'm not surprised. This is what happens when you keep doing things that aren't working and expect a different outcome. For years, many of us have been lamenting the on-air approach to sales, the redundancy of programming and products featured and the noxious host behaviors. Now, what you see as part of this decline is that the on-air component is not moving the goods... Add to the aforementioned factors overall costs, largely unfriendly customer incentives, slow shipping at high cost and BAM... They might be convinced they have the right 'model', but it would seem their customers, or, former customers, as it were, don't necessarily support that conclusion... Qurate needs less arrogant and more effective leadership and they need to listen to their customers, you know, while they still have some... While I was once a prolific Q shopper, I'm one of those who opted to 'change the channel' and now I rarely look back... And you know, the way things have gotten, I don't miss it a bit...

[SunValley]

I just SMH when posters tell others to not watch or change the channel. Good grief, the whole point of TV programming is to attract viewers. The 4% decline in on-air sales subsantiates the forum complaints about silly host antics, hyped high-pressure sales, stale programming, and sky high prices, especially in jewelry. They had the best silver jewelry in a wide range of prices and then ditched that concept to focus on designer pieces at exorbitant pricing. I did not follow them down that path. Then there is the processing and shipping process that hasn't improved in the 25 years I have shopped here. Still 7 to 10 days to deliver and days of being in process but some magic dust makes it impossible to cancel after 30 minutes. Younger shoppers are not going to be attracted to that model, and many of us who shop here already are getting fed up with the slow shipping.

[iwrite]

@SeaMaiden 

thank you for posting the link. i really appreciate it.
it isn't unusual for the 1st quarter sales to be low in a lot of companies, as that is the slowest shopping quarter of the year.

i found this paragraph interesting.

“We are taking a disciplined approach, investing in initiatives to drive high-quality customer growth and engagement, broaden and deliver our assortments, particularly across new digital platforms, and optimize our fulfillment network. Our customer fundamentals remain strong, including customer count, retention and purchase frequency. We are confident we are taking the right actions to deliver attractive operating margins and free cash flow for the long-term.”

what exactly is high-quality customer growth?

are customers being ranked, by low medium and high quality?

just how many purchases are they expecting people to make, paying $3.50 - $7.50 per item, with all of these enhancements?

i, like many others have reduced qvc purchases, for numerous reasons, most of which, were not included in the article.i also do not watch very often anymore, for the number one reason that i have seen on this forum, time and time again.

long time shoppers don't get anything for being a long time customer - new qvc card customers get a statement credit, after that, they are lumped into the same category as everyone else. some web sites have a rewards program based on the dollar amount that you spend. here, there is nothing, zilch, nada for being a customer. that may be a starting point. the only problem is, they wouldn't give people bonus points for being a long time customer and there would be some annoying catch to getting/using the bonus points. so never mind.

getting more millenials - nope, not gonna happen. they want what's trendy "today" and wnat it to be delivered in 3 days or less.

i wonder how many other people besides me, have reduced or stopped shopping for other reasons not mentioned in the article?

[iwrite]

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@Suxela wrote:

With all the changes that were made and some not for the better, people are not watching or purchasing as much from QVC or HSN.

It's evident on this forum the constant complains on their performance with returns,quality and sometimes prices.

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@Suxela 

dare i ask what changes and if these changes were in the article? i missed them in the article. perhaps the changes are for salaries. i read something about fulfillment, but it didn't indicate that would mean that orders would be delivered faster.

[iwrite]

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@ibuytoomuch2 wrote:
They just don’t get it and need to up their game. Most of their prices are ridiculous, then add slow shipping which they charge for and 7 bucks to return! WTF? Love me some amazon! Get a clue!

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@ibuytoomuch2 

i think they do get it, but are still using 2005 thinking. by that i mean, the "build it, they will come" way of selling/marketing is O-V-E-R

they should really look into why they get so many returns.

could it be that sizes are not correctly and/or clearly explained.

should more time be spent on that instead of "i bought this" or some other "me, me, me" topic.

i don't think i've purchased 10 clothing items in way more than 10 years of watching.

i think people get tired of having to ship something back because some information was not provided or it was not provided in an easy to understand manner.

i can't tell you how many products/items (it's in the hundreds over the years) that i passed on because more time was spend on the host, then the product. no shade, but i'm not watching because i want to buy a host. can the vendor or product rep please have the most speaking time . . . without interruption?

[Drythe]

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@stevieb wrote:

As noted elsewhere, since there are a couple of threads about this, I'm not surprised. This is what happens when you keep doing things that aren't working and expect a different outcome. For years, many of us have been lamenting the on-air approach to sales, the redundancy of programming and products featured and the noxious host behaviors. Now, what you see as part of this decline is that the on-air component is not moving the goods... Add to the aforementioned factors overall costs, largely unfriendly customer incentives, slow shipping at high cost and BAM... They might be convinced they have the right 'model', but it would seem their customers, or, former customers, as it were, don't necessarily support that conclusion... Qurate needs less arrogant and more effective leadership and they need to listen to their customers, you know, while they still have some... While I was once a prolific Q shopper, I'm one of those who opted to 'change the channel' and now I rarely look back... And you know, the way things have gotten, I don't miss it a bit...

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@stevieb 

Add to the aforementioned factors overall costs, largely unfriendly customer incentives, slow shipping at high cost and BAM

With this bit of an addition, you've said it all for me~

Slow, frequently inaccurate, refunds, (necessity of calling to remind CS to refund at all) slippage in customer service, and significant drop in quality.