Q Talk

[lmt]

My girlfriend sent me this article. Very interesting..........

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (Reuters) - HSN, once known as the Home Shopping Network, is getting an image makeover.

A U.S. television network where shoppers can buy everything from electronics to kitchen gadgets, HSN is overhauling its lineup to offer more beauty products while adding streamed video content to win over shoppers without cable TV.

A division of Qurate Retail Group, the network is facing growing competition from Amazon Inc. and Evine Live Inc for consumers like 24-year old Erin Bounds, who regard buying products through TV shows a relic of the past.

"Someone who is 24 doesn't have the time nor desire to watch an hour-long show about a piece of jewelry or a vacuum when they can get an answer and the product quicker and probably cheaper on Amazon," said Bounds, a resident of Ellicott City, Maryland.

For decades, the main difference to shoppers between HSN and Qurate's other shopping network, QVC, typically came down to variations in branding and merchandise, with HSN selling more electronics. Qurate acquired HSN in late 2017 for $2.1 billion so the two shopping networks could join forces to better compete against Amazon and its home-shopping-style online video promotions.

Qurate executives told Reuters they now are culling HSN's core merchandise offerings to eliminate many higher-priced electronics and some home goods, such as vacuum cleaners and blenders.

Instead, they are adding more niche cosmetic and apparel brands to help draw some distinction with QVC. They are also pushing both QVC and HSN to pursue younger shoppers with click-to-buy links on Instagram and Facebook Live for items such as earrings, shoes and Vince Camuto jeans, in a bid to spark a rebound in demand.

Second-quarter revenue at HSN declined 12 percent to $473 million from $533 million a year later the company announced Wednesday. Stock in the company, which counts media mogul John Malone as one of its largest investors, is down about 8 percent year to date, compared with a 14 percent increase for the Nasdaq index, and 64 percent increase for Amazon.com year to date.

"You're seeing the impact of them digesting a large organization that is clearly not growing if you look at the numbers," said Ben Claremon, partner and research analyst at investment firm Cove Street Capital, one of Qurate's shareholders.

"There's just not the degree of demand for home shopping products, and the desire to spend hours of the day watching them diminishes as you go down in age," he said.

BALANCING BLUE LIPSTICK WITH BRACELETS

The new strategy is aimed at creating more distinction with the two cable channels after the merger, according to Rob Robillard, the new VP of Beauty Integration at Qurate.

In beauty, for example, one of HSN's top selling products is Too Faced "Unicorn Tears" blue lipstick, which sells for roughly $22. One of QVC's best products is the Doll 10 Nude lipstick with a price tag of around $25, noted Robillard.

"We were sort of hoping there would be this real big difference between HSN and QVC," he said. "But the two are actually very similar."

Qurate will partner with Robin Burns-McNeill, chairman of Batallure Beauty, a company specializing in brand strategy, product and package development, sourcing and manufacturing in the fragrance, cosmetics and skincare categories, to create a collection of proprietary beauty brands, the company told Reuters exclusively.

The first manufactured beauty products from this partnership are slated to launch in fall 2019 on QVC.com, and, if all goes well, the company said they would likely tap on Burns-McNeill's shoulder to create proprietary brands for HSN as well.

They have a tall order. Amazon is the top online destination for beauty and the fifth-most-popular retailer for skincare and cosmetics, according to Coresight Research, behind leaders Walmart, CVS Health, Target Corp and Walgreens. QVC and HSN do not rank on the list.

[Kachina624]

Thanks for posting this.  All we need are more beauty shows to not watch.

[Tricolor]

Thank you for the article. Very interesting reading. We are all seeing some of the changes but it was good to see actually what will be changing. My son and DIL both work in corporate offices for retail chains and Amazon is just killing everyone. 

[sunshine 919]

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@Kachina624 wrote:

Thanks for posting this.  All we need are more beauty shows to not watch.

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lol

[Alison Wonderland]

Wow, Batallure Beauty is the company behind Christian Louboutin cosmetics.

[Just Bling]

Beauty has a HUGE markup, big profits.

I am surprised at this decision, HSN and QVC are NOT my go to place to shop for makeup/beauty.

Besides, most of the manufacturers have their own websites, offer the friends and family discounts, offer special free kits and even the major department stores have the free kits.

[Daysdee]

I was thinking  the other day that many of us shop Amazon all the time without "seeing a long presentation" of the item(s).   All the theatrics on QVC aren't really necessary in many cases.    I'm disappointed in the merger as far as HSN goes.  I see that the free shipping they offered before is now gone.  Also, been noticing even though I am home most days, I seldom watch QVC more than 10-30 minutes all day.  Before I kept it on many hours a day.  Buying less too.

[shopperqvc]

Well, that will send me off to another channel to watch. I've thought there were too many cosmetics items that are all basically the same and expensive. How much goop does a person have to wear? Sorry, I feel I've earned the lines and grey hair, I'm not going to spend hundreds of dollars trying to hide them. I've never tried to watch the Q's beauty channel, and I have no interest in Q2 either. Now with them adding the 2 HSN channels that's 5 channels of mainly the same stuff. I found a local access channel that plays different styles of music depending on the time of day, and it tells about things happening in my area. I've gone from having QVC on around the clock to not having any shopping channel on now in a while. I hope those 20 somethings they want watching show up, but you're losing the older folks that got you going. Nothing new and different. That means nothing interesting.

[RespectLife]

Very interesting article!  Thanks for posting!

I LOVE beauty shows!  I watch them all the time on QVC for ideas.......NOT ON youtube, QBeauty channel or other social media.  I totally dislike the formats of these 'selfie' type shows.

Funny, I have never and never considered buying Beauty products from Amazon (or ebay).  Don't trust 3rd party sellers...yet Amazon is ranked top!

Since beauty.com is gone, I now buy my Beauty products from Ulta, QVC & Sephora who don't even make the list! 

I must be odd man out!

[Daysdee]

I think they will have a hard time getting the 20-40 or so age group to shop on QVC.  My kids and their friends sure don't watch or shop.  Also, my senior friends don't watch or shop QVC either.  Some are not into that much shopping and others travel  a lot and/or are willing to drive several miles to go to a Nordstrom store, etc.  Most of these same individuals do shop a lot at Amazon and so do I.