• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military

2

Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer

3

Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there

1

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military

2

Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer

3

Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
TechQVC

QVC Execs On Mobile, the New Shopping Mall and Fidget Spinners

By
Leena Rao
Leena Rao
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Leena Rao
Leena Rao
Down Arrow Button Icon
June 10, 2017, 1:00 PM ET

 

QVC was a pioneer in the 1980s for bringing shopping to living rooms across the U.S. Since then, it’s gone global by adding channels in Japan, Germany, U.K., Italy, France, and China.

These days, the big question is whether QVC can adapt to the new world of online video, mobile shopping, and e-commerce. In 2015, QVC’s parent company, Liberty Interactive, bought online retailer for women’s and kid’s fashion Zulily for $2.4 billion, hoping to attract millennial moms.

The efforts appear to be making some headway. Of QVC’s $8.7 billion revenue in 2016, e-commerce represented 48%, or $4 billion, of the overall.

Fortune spoke to QVC’s senior vice president of digital commerce, Alex Miller, and Peter Goodnough, the company’s vice president of consumer insights and analytics, about how the company is tackling mobile commerce and trying to appeal to younger shoppers.

(This interview was edited for length and clarity)

Fortune: How is QVC looking at the e-commerce and mobile commerce opportunity right now?

Miller: We’re excited about where things are going in terms of e-commerce. We are more of a media company that a traditional commerce company. Our customers come to us to be entertained. So the trends around mobile play to our strengths because people are open to engaging with our content and we’re in a good position to monetize that behavior.

How have you made the transition from a media company to a technology company?

Miller: We’ve been in digital and e-commerce for almost 21 years and mobile for almost a decade. Some of the problems that brick and mortar retailers have had to face we have not had to tackle. We’ve always been direct to consumer, and had a good relationship with our customers. We always had a single unified pricing model.

Goodnough: What we’ve had to do is learn to reposition our existing video and media assets to drive transactions and engagement on all platforms. For example, we have displayed 20 second advertisements on our TV programming for online only sales, which has brought upwards of $150,000 in sales of one product.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

We are also thinking about how we can become the new virtual mall in e-commerce. We are really a virtual bazaar where consumers are looking at many different products. QVC is an agile company that can react to placing and merchandising. For example, we saw that of Google trends that searches for new toy fidget spinners are increasing. So we decided to sell an assorted variety of fidget spinners, and we’ve had multiple times where our inventory of the product has sold out.

How are you using real-time data and trends to make selling decisions?

Goodnough: We have a software called DART, which stands for data analytics response tech. It’s a real-time monitoring system for every consumer behavior that’s happening on the web, including searches on Google and other public data. The more data that flows into our system, we can change what we are selling both in broadcast and online.

So we’re looking at weather on a geographic basis to help spike sales of weather related products. Or we recently saw an increase of people searching for Himalayan Salt Lamps, and we stocked these products and had multiple events where the items sold out.

How are you trying to appeal to the millennial generation?

Goodnough: Baby boomers are the most powerful consumer force right now in terms of disposable income. We see that generation as underserved and it is the most economically well off. But we bought Zulily to appeal to a millennial shopper and it was a purposeful move to expand out our demographic.

Tell us more about how you are tackling mobile commerce?

Miller: We have a big mobile app business. We produce the most live content of any network in the U.S. So we’re really leaning in to that on mobile. We just launched new version of iOS and Android apps that features live video, both from our existing TV channels and original content. We offer buy buttons within the video which let shoppers buy items on our retail site. We also have apps for the Roku and Apple TV.

We’re constantly thinking about how and where can we make video and shopping a central experience.

About the Author
By Leena Rao
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Bridgit Mendler speaks on stage at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2026 in Aspen, Colorado.
Startups & VentureBrainstorm Tech
The space economy’s next frontier is in ground infrastructure, Northwood Space CEO says
By Sebastian HerreraJune 10, 2026
2 hours ago
Digital sovereignty isn’t the same thing as digital isolation. Asia’s governments should be careful
Commentarydata sovereignty
Digital sovereignty isn’t the same thing as digital isolation. Asia’s governments should be careful
By Leonard LimJune 10, 2026
6 hours ago
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates (C) arrives for a closed-door interview with the House Oversight Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on June 10, 2026.
LawBill Gates
Gates testifies on Epstein: previous Fortune investigation reveals payments to his ex-girlfriend, $1M Microsoft deal
By Eva Roytburg, Joey Cappelletti, Hannah Schoenbaum and The Associated PressJune 10, 2026
7 hours ago
How the World Cup is a high-stakes stage for Big Tech’s AI push
NewslettersCIO Intelligence
How the World Cup is a high-stakes stage for Big Tech’s AI push
By John KellJune 10, 2026
8 hours ago
Anthropic accused of ‘secret sabotage’ as Claude Fable 5 silently limits capabilities for AI researchers and developers
AIAnthropic
Anthropic accused of ‘secret sabotage’ as Claude Fable 5 silently limits capabilities for AI researchers and developers
By Sharon GoldmanJune 10, 2026
9 hours ago
A 5-week course and a guaranteed job: Meta commits $115 million to solve the skilled-trades shortage stalling its AI build-out
Future of WorkMeta
A 5-week course and a guaranteed job: Meta commits $115 million to solve the skilled-trades shortage stalling its AI build-out
By Jacqueline MunisJune 10, 2026
10 hours ago

Most Popular

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military
Asia
Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military
By Kate O'Keeffe and BloombergJune 8, 2026
2 days ago
Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer
Energy
Analysts expected oil to surge above $200 but China has quietly kept prices half of that—and can’t for much longer
By Sasha RogelbergJune 10, 2026
9 hours ago
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
Success
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
By Preston ForeJune 8, 2026
3 days ago
A ‘MAGA Warrior’ Texas ag chief is publicly blasting the USDA over a flesh-eating pest threatening America's beef supply
North America
A ‘MAGA Warrior’ Texas ag chief is publicly blasting the USDA over a flesh-eating pest threatening America's beef supply
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezJune 10, 2026
17 hours ago
Marc Lore’s robots make 500 burrito bowls an hour. A human can make 45
Innovation
Marc Lore’s robots make 500 burrito bowls an hour. A human can make 45
By Amanda GerutJune 9, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of oil as of June 10, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 10, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 10, 2026
14 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.