QVC Mobile Commerce Explodes 63%
By Anna Rose Welch, Editorial & Community Director, Advancing RNA
Mobile commerce jumps in response to the company’s launch of a new social media platform
Ranked No. 3 in the 2014 Internet Retailer Mobile 500, TV and web retailer QVC experienced a strong 2013 third quarter, boasting increases in web and mobile sales. US web sales increased 11.7 percent to $535 million from $479 million in Q3’12. Web sales accounted for 41.2 percent of total US sales of $1.30 billion, a 2.6 percent increase from Q3’12 when QVC web sales were 38.6 percent of total US sales of $1.24 billion. For the year so far, QVC reports a 4 percent increase in US web sales from 3.76 billion in 2012 to $3.91 billion.
Similarly, the company’s mobile commerce sales only keep increasing, with sales growing 63 percent to reach $169.2 million for Q3’13. In fact, QVC mobile commerce sales amounted to 31.6 percent of total web sales, up from 103.8 million (21.7 percent) of web sales in Q3’12.
Mobile sales for the company represented 32.7 percent of Q3’13 total US sales, which reached $1.95 billion. Mobile sales jumped 39.4 percent to $636.7 million, up from $456.9 million in Q3’12.
These quarterly results show that the company is well on its way to achieving its goal of generating 50 percent of all US revenue via e-commerce by the end of 2014. This fall, the company has been diligently working on strategies that will continue driving sales. In particular, the company created a new platform uniting social media and mobile commerce to make the shopping experience more entertaining and social for QVC consumers.
Social Media And Mobile Drive The Customer Experience
The company’s new social media platform, toGather, was launched the end of September. This platform, which resembles a walled-version of Pinterest, allows consumers to like and follow products and shows. It makes shopping an even more social experience by enabling customers to create personalized news feeds, follow people and brands they admire, access a full product catalogue, and shop for/purchase products. CEO Claire Watts says, “toGather is another way we bring the magic of what we do every day on television to the digital space. It’s an online destination where consumers discover new products and are entertained with people they know and trust. Social shopping is all about building relationships, and QVC creates long-term relationships with customers like no other retailer.”
Within the next year, the company will continue improving its relationship with customers by optimizing its e-commerce site to fit all viewers’ different devices. By next June, the company’s e-commerce site will utilize responsive design so that the site will adapt to fit any screen size, whether it be a desktop, smartphone, tablet, or smart TV. Adapting to all devices is a matter of great importance for QVC, considering the fact that QVC customers already use more than one device when making purchases. VP of e-commerce at QVC, Alex Miller, says, “We know our customers want to engage with us on multiple platforms almost simultaneously, so we see a lot of second-screen interactivity within a given day with our existent customers. They are using their mobile phone in the morning, they go to their desktop in the afternoon, and they pick up the phone later to make an order.”
As the company continues to bring more personalization to its customers, it is only natural to tailor content to meet their needs on any device. As CEO Mike George says, “We are creating a unique and relevant shopping experience for the always digitally connected shopper.”
Read about how QVC is improving customer service in their own way.