One of the hottest business trends in the UK will be celebrating its birthday in October. The home shopping channel QVC saw more than 15 million orders placed in 2012, generating revenue of £403.7 million.
They buy their products from entrepreneurs and businesses and then sell them for a mark-up. They broadcast 17 hours a day and have recorded shows on the other seven hours. Their top selling beauty brands include Liz Earle, L’Occitane, Kim & Co., Kipling and others.
They are now finding that the mobile and online orders are growing by leaps and bounds, as their website and smartphone apps orders accounted for 26% of their net revenue in 2012.
As Dermot Boyd, chief executive of QVC UK said, “Mobile is the fastest growing platform and that includes tablets. But TV viewing has gone up too. The important thing is we can be on both screens: TV and tablets. Tablets and mobiles reinforce the TV platform, and we are streaming on the web too.”
QVC was actually founded in 1986 in the United States by entrepreneur Joseph Segel. It was launched in the UK in 1993. It is, today, available to 26.7 million homes in the UK.
When asked why QVC appears to be doing so well when so many are struggling, Boyd said,
“One of the reasons behind our success is our typical viewer demographic, which is women aged over 30. There is less competition in this age range and they have more money. There is also an entertainment value, we have national coverage and a sales force of 20 presenters who are very popular with viewers. Our customers tend to be loyal. QVC was a winner in the Nineties’ recession and we would hope to be a winner in this one too.”