The morning after Thanksgiving signals the beginning of the discount-shopping season. Malls all over the country open up their doors welcoming floods of impatient consumers eager to score the best deal. Shoppers fight for goods, brands rush into a battle to offer the lowest possible price, and shopping giants disperse flashy promotions and sales to lure customers.
This is by far the busiest time of a year for retail, and it requires a lot of prior groundwork. While the strategy for targeting holiday shoppers is pretty much similar across the conventional retail sector, some companies do it a bit differently.
QVC, the 30-year-old TV shopping retail network, focuses on selling products by pitching them live 24/7 364 days a year (it takes a break on Christmas day) to customers directly from their TV screens and online through QVC.com. The company doesn’t offer discounts but bets on the convenience of shopping from home.
“We are going to have product for her [QVC’s shopper] that’s compelling, that’s a great price. It’s going to be the best price the first time we show it, so she doesn’t have to worry that we are going to put it on sale the next week,” said QVC CEO Mike George.
He added, “We are going to give her information and inspiration around that product — how to really use it, how to make the most of it. And we are going to do it in the atmosphere that, hopefully, feels a little more relaxed than the mall.”
As a part of the holiday strategy, QVC tries to engage its shoppers with new products that the company sells in the fourth quarter.
“The best gift is a really great practical present that solves the problem, but it is not something you’ve seen all year long,” said Ken O’Brian, senior vice president of merchandising at QVC.
QVC’s “gifts-ready-to-give strategy” aims to make gift shopping easier by offering items in packs.
“We might offer an item in a pack of three or four or five or six. And every one of those, actually, would come with a gift box. So it’s an easy ready-made gift,” said O’Brian.
To find out more about how QVC targets holiday season, watch the video above.
