Q Talk

[Q4u]

I hadn't been to an Outlet Mall in several years and decided to drive to one a few months ago.... a Coach store.  Empty Mall, half the stores were gone.  The Coach store was not the crowded, grabbing store I remembered... empty, really low prices.  Selection wasn't much but I don't think they stocked it well because the Mall just doesn't get many people

Sad.....  hope it turns around but many of the Malls (big and little) just aren't doing well here or within an hour's drive.  

[Q4u]

I agree with the poster that said that the fashions all look the same.... they DO!  They really do.  I like the idea of today's TSV but I don't want another (ANOTHER) cardigan that flies away!  It looks just like all the other fly away long cardigans I've seen....

[libbyannE]

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@Havarti wrote:

Back when the shopping channels were getting going many big name vendors would not sell to them. At that time infomercials were “in” but having your products hawked on a 24/7 selling channel was not yet the “in” thing to do. The shopping channels found wonderful small vendors that wanted and needed exposure, but could not necessarily afford it. Shoppers found interesting things (sometimes totally bizarre things) that were not in their local stores and catalogs. When Barry Diller took over QVC, the training and traveling to sources for education was a big thing. Views learned about new things at the same time hosts were trained with more in depth knowledge to impart through their selling. For example, they used to travel to mines where stones for the jewelry were mined and the locals would teach you fascinating things about the area and the process of creating jewelry from that particular stone. It was a wonderful time – the shopping channels grew and the shoppers had access to unique items they had never seen before.

Once these channels became big behemoth sales operations the big companies wanted to sell their products and over time squeezed out the innovative creative products that had been offered. I think people will still spend the money if the right items are available. But now-a-days they order in 10,000 Dyson vacuums and push them on the same audience that bought the last 10,000 Dyson. And in 6 weeks they will do it again. It is too many of the same vendors, with the same products, pushed on the same audience. The sales pitch has become harder, pushier, and almost crisis-oriented…it is a turn off to so many shoppers.

Maybe it is time to look back at what worked in the past and see what can be learned and applied to today’s audience and marketplace. JMHO

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An excellent and insightful summary.

[libbyannE]

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@Q4u wrote:

I hadn't been to an Outlet Mall in several years and decided to drive to one a few months ago.... a Coach store.  Empty Mall, half the stores were gone.  The Coach store was not the crowded, grabbing store I remembered... empty, really low prices.  Selection wasn't much but I don't think they stocked it well because the Mall just doesn't get many people

Sad.....  hope it turns around but many of the Malls (big and little) just aren't doing well here or within an hour's drive.  

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What happened to Coach, besides the decline in designer handbag sales well documented in the industry, is that, unlike Dooney, they started making a different and obviously cheaper line of bags for the outlet stores. We gave a good outlet mall nearby, but I don't even bother to go into coach. 

[libbyannE]

I certainly don't buy very much anymore. I took early retirement so how many clothes do I need?! And business trends stories have talked about the milennials not buying much, either. I would hate to be in the retail business these days. 

[itiswhatitis]

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@handygal2 wrote:

Many QVC shareholders are selling off their shares today. The price per share is down about 23% as of 3PM. Even though the acquisition of Zulily last year has helped, when you factor that out, revenue only increased 3% from last year. A weak retail environment in general is blamed. Here's the link to a brief article: 

http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/08/05/why-liberty-interactive-corporation-shares-plunged.aspx

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Meanwhile, Zulily is supposedly helping their bottom line.  What to believe?

http://www.geekwire.com/2016/qvc-owned-zulily-sees-23-revenue-spike-366m-helping-home-shopping-giant...

Zulily is helping QVC post profits amid what the home shopping network calls a “choppy retail environment.”

Liberty Interactive Group, which owns QVC, posted its second quarter earnings on Friday. Net income for QVC increased 13 percent to $127 million, while revenue increased 21 percent to $2.4 billion.

“QVC continues forward in a choppy retail environment,” Liberty CEO Greg Maffei said in a statement.

[StraytoStay]

They did lower the upcoming price of Laura Geller's TSV and free shipping. Before, it was sixty (not sure if that had free shipping) now it will be fifty. I wouldn't have paid sixty for it. It has another travel size lip gloss which some complained in the beauty forum one of her TSV had small sizes. The value in TSV's hasn't been as good prior.

[KathyPet]

I find very few items to tempt me at QVC anymore.  With the change to the shipping policy and the sizing now all over the place paying a extra $10.00 to try on and return clothing is not a chance I am willing to take.  I can do much better at B&M stores.  They used to offer unique items.  Now it's mattresses, vacuum cleaners, computers and other electronics I can get better pricing on through other sources.  Nope,  not much to buy anymore.

[TY]

Looks like the old axiom of buy on the rumour and sell on the news is at play here. Both HSN and QVC's financials didn't impress investors who are bailing on retail stocks. 

I also read Linda Moss' Homeshoppingista's blog as she's discussing both shopping networks' 2nd quarter's reports.

So is anyone really surprised? The economy isn't as healthy as people think and customers are not spending as much as before as they are being cautious and looking for bargains.

So jewelry sales and electronics are down once again at QVC. So how come there are endless hours of heavy rotation of electronics? No wonder why jewelry shows seem to be in the middle of the night. And the prices for sterling silver jewelry is very expensive given that silver is a cheap metal.

[ChillyTulip]

No shock here.  I used to buy all the time but the past year or two I have cut way back.  Huge price increases, high shipping charges, and stale merchandise was the ultimate trifecta affecting my QVC spending.   They are becoming irrelevent in a sea of online retailers and simply can't compete.