Q Talk

[KDenn]

On 10/31/2014 LipstickDiva said:

On 10/31/2014 KDenn said:

Even former TV-shopping based personal say that the shopping channels are hurting and that they don't see the current format lasting that much longer. That they need to come up with fresh ideas.<br /> <br /> While after Lisa, QVC will have another host that is the next 'Queen Bee' and be a top seller. I don't see any of the current ones having the appeal and success that Lisa had. She didn't just step in out of the blue. She already had a wide appeal and was one their top sellers and had been offered on air hosting jobs in the TV industry but QVC wouldn't let her out of her contract .

But again, the same thing was said when Kathy left. Lisa had been at Q only 4 or 5 years when Kathy left. No one expected Lisa to take on that role.

I suspect this format of shopping may not be around much longer.

While the internet wasn't as popular as it is today, there was plenty of talk on message boards, alt.newsgroups, yahoo groups, etc...about Lisa talking on that role, she was already very popular.
Kathie Lee Gifford announced that she was leaving the show with Regis almost at the same that Kathy announced that she was leaving QVC, it become known that Lisa was being mentioned as the leading contender to replace Kathie Lee. They where saying that to keep Lisa, QVC would have to give her Kathy's role.. which QVC did. Instead of releasing her from her QVC contract, they gave her Kathy's role.

It is one thing for customers to say that the shopping channels are hurting and need to change. But when those that work or have worked in home shopping industry are saying it also, don't you think that they would know more about the industry then customers do?

While QVC's financial reports are saying that they are making a profit. The financials are also saying that they are shipping less items per customer and have less returning customers. The only reason they are making a profit is selling higher ticket items and have a high S/H fees. To have long term success, businesses need to have customers buying several items and returning customers.

[stevieb]

On 11/2/2014 KDenn said:

On 10/31/2014 LipstickDiva said:

On 10/31/2014 KDenn said:

Even former TV-shopping based personal say that the shopping channels are hurting and that they don't see the current format lasting that much longer. That they need to come up with fresh ideas.<br /> <br /> While after Lisa, QVC will have another host that is the next 'Queen Bee' and be a top seller. I don't see any of the current ones having the appeal and success that Lisa had. She didn't just step in out of the blue. She already had a wide appeal and was one their top sellers and had been offered on air hosting jobs in the TV industry but QVC wouldn't let her out of her contract .

But again, the same thing was said when Kathy left. Lisa had been at Q only 4 or 5 years when Kathy left. No one expected Lisa to take on that role.

I suspect this format of shopping may not be around much longer.

While the internet wasn't as popular as it is today, there was plenty of talk on message boards, alt.newsgroups, yahoo groups, etc...about Lisa talking on that role, she was already very popular.
Kathie Lee Gifford announced that she was leaving the show with Regis almost at the same that Kathy announced that she was leaving QVC, it become known that Lisa was being mentioned as the leading contender to replace Kathie Lee. They where saying that to keep Lisa, QVC would have to give her Kathy's role.. which QVC did. Instead of releasing her from her QVC contract, they gave her Kathy's role.

It is one thing for customers to say that the shopping channels are hurting and need to change. But when those that work or have worked in home shopping industry are saying it also, don't you think that they would know more about the industry then customers do?

While QVC's financial reports are saying that they are making a profit. The financials are also saying that they are shipping less items per customer and have less returning customers. The only reason they are making a profit is selling higher ticket items and have a high S/H fees. To have long term success, businesses need to have customers buying several items and returning customers.

I don't know if the handwriting is on the wall or not, but what I do know is that for several years I was singing the praises of QVC and now I'm barely watching and I'm buying quite a bit less. All the banter and sarcasm aside, it's a product saturation thing. I'm simply not in the market for the kinds of items on which QVC has become focused, and there clearly is a far more restricted array of brands and products to select from among... The other fact is that if I was interested in shopping exclusively on-line it's not going to be here. Again, it's a saturation/essential lack of variety and a competition issue. I used to enjoy tuning in and watching but that's increasingly not an option because of the repetition and because watching is rarely any longer a pleasurable experience.

As for Lisa, I'd understood that Regis was a fan and that she was considered as a replacement for Kathy Lee, but if she was literally a 'shoe in' and had to give up that gig even for the role of QVC's Queen Bee, well, that's really a shame... Opportunities like that don't come along every day, though she's clearly been successful here.

Agreed, the whole home shopping industry is in a very different place now than it was even five years ago and unless they in general and QVC in particular start to do a better job of giving the audience what they want to see and not just a steady diet of what they want to show then I don't see the level of success previously enjoyed extending very far into the future. I never was one to sit and watch infomercials and although that analogy gets batted around quite a bit, it's becoming more and more a reality, as they routinely and increasingly feature hour after hour of the same products and the same few brands.

[stevieb]

Forgot to add, that I do think Lisa is smart to get while the getting is good. I will miss her and her absence will see me watching less and less, but I also don't see where remaining here makes a great deal of sense for her. Despite being their most prominent host and her role in the Got It Love It line, it seems the future here is going to become more and more limited. Of course, that presupposes that she actually is going to something else concrete that at least appears to her to be a better option. We never know how change is going to pan out, but am wishing her well.

[raspberrygal]

First of all QVC is under new management and in the corporate world they are restructuring. If that means letting Lisa go then that's their prerogative and we must go with their flow.

[stevieb]

Actually, QVC is not under new management, as useful as that might prove to be... The former head of US operations left, either on her own or with help, in early September. The CEO, however, remains exactly the same person as has been at the helm for a number of years. He recently appointed another QVC insider as a VP, who might or might not be filling the shoes vacated by the former head of domestic operations. By most reasoned accounts, Lisa is leaving of her own volition. While I'm sure it titillates some to make the leaping assumption she was let go, were that the case, we'd not likely be seeing the two month long swan song, with her still featured front and center, both in programming and on the website...

[raspberrygal]

Then under new management style. Gone are the days of dressing up on Halloween. We are now more sophisticated but not so much that we need a symbol of sophistication like Lisa R whom we would have to keep paying more commissions to.

[stevieb]

At the rate they're going, commissions won't be an issue for anyone...

[gardensla]

On 11/3/2014 stevieb said:

Forgot to add, that I do think Lisa is smart to get while the getting is good. I will miss her and her absence will see me watching less and less, but I also don't see where remaining here makes a great deal of sense for her. Despite being their most prominent host and her role in the Got It Love It line, it seems the future here is going to become more and more limited. Of course, that presupposes that she actually is going to something else concrete that at least appears to her to be a better option. We never know how change is going to pan out, but am wishing her well.

She certainly is going out with a bang. There's going to be a 12 Days of Christmas thing on her FB page with lots of great new stuff for which posters have been waiting and asking. I think she has a TSV in December? It will be interesting to see what her last item presented will be. I don't know if she's leaving because there's handwriting on the wall, but I think she's smart to try something new for her third act.

[22tulips]

On 10/25/2014 kittymomNC said:

On 10/25/2014 stevieb said:

Oh come on. Anyone who has even occasionally watched QVC over the past half decade can't help notice this is not the same shopping entity it used to be. The mighty have fallen and continue to fall lower and lower... So many vendors and product lines have either left or been kicked to the curb; they no longer offer the significant product mix they once did, either on-air, definitely, or on-line; the programming is lethally dull, relying on a rotation of the same stale handful of bigger ticket appliance and electronic items; their jewelry 'department' has become an utter joke; their pricing and shipping are only occasionally competitive; their product fulfillment and customer service operations aren't remotely what they used to be; the product quality appears to have deteriorated; the hosts have essentially become shrill carnival barkers, repeating the same tire buzz phrases mandated by management; the focus on social media has become tiresome and annoying; there is an increasing reliance on advance sales and seemingly a significant move away from actually stocking items, leading to an increase in wait list orders and to an increase in wait list orders that aren't fulfilled; and the only area of consistency that I can see is the website, which is consistently bad...

You hit the nail on the head, stevie! As well as this from your other post...

And yes, now Lisa is leaving, and as far as I'm concerned that is one HUGE nail in the coffin... Were any other host to depart, I'd hardly notice, though there are a few I might miss... for a moment, but Lisa's choice to depart is significant. I will miss her because even though I rarely watch any more, for the most part, it was her shows I did still watch on those rare occasions when I tuned in...

I made it a point to watch Lisa's Christmas shows, enjoyed them thoroughly, and will watch the rest of them, especially since there will never be any more after this year! The only other shows I try to catch from time to time (although maybe not the entire show-I do other things or flip channels) are PM Style, Denim & Co on Tuesday mornings with Carolyn, and Liz Claiborne on Wednesdays with Mary Beth and Linda (although that gets preempted by other things too often). I do catch parts of AM Style on Saturdays, and watch Susan Graver sporadically. Sometimes I leave it on for background noise if I'm sick of the news, etc. That's about it. I've only made two purchases since early August, and I might buy an occasional Philosophy product or Bare Minerals Foundation-but those are few and far between.

I've spent quite a bit of money on QVC products over the years, but that has just about completely stopped. (I am trying to convince myself not to buy those little white feathered owls from last night's show - I keep hoping they'll sell out! They're in my cart, but I haven't checked out yet..) I doubt that QVC will get much of my money or my time in the future.

Wanted to let you know I found both styles of owls small ones at Tues AM for 3.99 ea. Exact same product. the larger ones were 13.99 22tulips

[22tulips]

On 10/24/2014 cosmic1 said: Not to mention all the folks who are gone and have not shown up elsewhere such as Bradley Bayou, Chloe Dao, Kathy van Zeeland and B Makowsky (who sold their companies), Sarah Campbelll, Suarti, etc. I don't know if it means anything more than the Q only wants to sell mattresses, vacuums and electronics.

KVZ is on Shop HQ also.