I will miss Jill. I watch less these days... products, vanity sizing (I am petite and thin), quality control issues and pros like Jill leaving are a turn off. As other bloggers have pointed out, Jill said she wasn't going anywhere in her 25th anniversary show. Now she is leaving. Something happened in between. One person said the contract negotiations are sometime in December or the first of the year. Maybe they didn't go well. Jill is a class act and very informative in her presentations but QVC is such a big, impersonal cooperation now. I doubt the less than bottom-line mentality of many middle management appreciates or understands the importance of a good host or the attachments that make customers continue to tune in. The turnover in management is probably huge as well so they don't really understand how QVC superseded the other TV networks and became the success it did. They look at the bottom line, not what can set the company apart in the past, qualities like class, Quality Control, excellent, informative hosts, ease of shopping and great customer service (if there are problems they are easily solved most of the time). Customer service newbies are not as well trained as they once were either. Apparently there is a huge turnover in this area.
In this era of massive competition online it would seem understanding one's demographics would help too. As many have noted, the QVC product lines are not for the twenty somethings. If that 's the demographic they are aiming at they will probably fail. The younger generation is not going to watch QVC; they don't even watch TV. They shop on line but for products they like. If they can get them anywhere they probably will not choose QVC, especially with shipping costs. As for newer lines from outside, I can get Vince Camuto in Bloomies in petite sizes, on saie and not pay shipping. I don't need to watch someone try to convince me that a top in misses that is too big or long for me, and that isn’t cut correctly for my frame will look good on me. As one person noted on another page programming has become stale too. One of Jill’s great qualities is that she would often point out when she thought an item would not be right for someone. One learned to trust her. QVC once was like a party. Fashion night was fun, an event, with pop up stores one could visit in NYC. There were so many designers doing special lines for them in jewelry and fashion. They took out adds in high-end magazines. They had great PR. They aimed at a classy up scale image while maintaining their staples like D@C. They hired hosts with varied backgrounds and ages. Most of that is all gone now.
The hosts look exhausted these days. They need to span three, and soon four channels. I think difference they make when they are good is undervalued by bottom line mentality of middle management and disappointing contract negotiations might be part of why Jill decided to leave. I rarely buy a product, even on line at QVC or in other on line stores, that doesn't have a presentation video unless I already know the product I am buying. As many have said most of the new hosts are not as prepared. Their presentations are not as informative as they could be. There is probably no time to train them well or for them to learn these skills as the expansion of Mr. George is in full swing. Jill started at a time when the hosts had to research their products themselves so they really were familiar with them before presenting them. Apparently (this is before my time), in the early days, they didn't have brand ambassadors either. Lisa Robinson, mentioned in an interview one of the reasons why she left when she was on top that was that she couldn't keep up the pace forever. They work behind the scenes too and Lisa had responsibilities of product line development. Many hosts, especially the older ones, look like they are working at the "happy" image these days, even David (they work that poor man to death looks strained.Bouncy Amy Stran looks exhausted too and the genuine enthusiasm she once had doesn't come across any more at least to me.
Apparently QVC became part of the Liberty Conglomerate (now Quarate Group) in 2003 but the change we are seeing was gradual. They have been expanding quickly ever since Michel George took over as CEO in 2010. He clearly doesn't know his products or his customer base. He heads up all the QVCs I think, even abroad, though I am not 100% sure of that. I think the people on top make a great deal of money with all these acquisitions and stock manipulations. They are not invested in the quality of the companies they own long term. They are merely poker chips to be bargained, traded and sold.
I have been looking at the blog pages and there are a few of them. I had a difficult time getting back to the site that had eighteen pages. There were so many insightful comments there. I had to search for that site this morning. If I didn't know it was there I would not have found it. I am including that link here. I don't know if QVC is editing some of these pages. The eighteen page site has responses that are very well thought out and not entirely flattering to QVC. A six page and eight page site were all that I could find at first look and many of the informative, insightful, thought provoking comments were not there. I am including the link.
https://community.qvc.com/t5/Q-Talk/Jill-s-leaving-QVC-whoa/td-p/5414493/page/2
GOOD LUCK JILL. YOU WILL BE MISSED.
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Just kidding. Jill is good compared to the current host crop. But her schoolmarm manner was a turn-off.
