HSN Digital Sales Jump 8%
By Anna Rose Welch, Editorial & Community Director, Advancing RNA
Company invests in rebranding, technological improvements, and social media integration on HSN.com to rejuvenate brand and customer experience
HSN released its 2013 third quarter financial results, revealing a 3 percent increase in net sales to $789.9 million and an 8 percent increase in digital sales. In response to these results, CEO Mindy Grossman says, "During the third quarter, [the company’s strategies] resulted in record customer levels at HSNi [and] an increase in digital penetration of 230 basis points — including strong growth in mobile, which now represents 12% of our total business.”
Over the past year, HSN has made several key changes to expand its digital presence. In January, the company announced it had re-launched the company’s digital channels in order to make them faster, more efficient, and more social. With this re-launch, the company hoped to enhance customer experience on HSN.com, as well as across all mobile devices, including tablets, android, and Windows 8. Technological advancements to the content and software architecture made site navigation more intuitive and doubled the site’s speed.
Emphasis On Digital And Social Media
Similarly, in order to make HSN shopping experiences more social, the redesign featured a new social element that enabled customers to share product finds, thoughts, and reviews with friends. Sam Decker, CEO of Mass Relevance, says, “By using the Mass Relevance platform, HSN.com can power a real-time social integration that includes photo streams, polls, Q&A, and more. Now, shoppers can participate with social content at every step of the purchase path, building engagement, and driving a deeper connection with the HSN brand.”
This step also sets the company up to better compete with rival, QVC, which recently reported impressive gains in web and mobile commerce sales. QVC also released a new social media platform that, like HSN’s new social media components, was launched to make shopping a more social experience for customers.
However, HSN is in the midst of rebranding to draw in new business and become more competitive and relevant in an increasingly digital shopping environment. This summer, the company replaced its old tagline, “There’s no place like…HSN,” to “It’s fun here” to draw in customers who are unaware of the HSN brand. In addition, the company plans to increase its measured media budget to emphasize digital. Customers are already able to play online games at HSN’s Arcade and can participate in Google+ hangouts — strategies that prolong her presence on the brand’s site and extend her interaction with the brand.
According to VP creative director, Jonathan Johnson, “We wanted to try to make HSN the hero. A couple of years ago, it was about a lot of celebrity. We did fashion events, but they didn’t really feel fashion forward or relevant. If you look at what we’re doing today…we’re evolved.” While QVC is a tough competitor to beat, HSN’s increasing digital sales suggest that these rebranding and digital improvements are extending the brand’s online presence and capturing the attention of an evolving customer base.