With established UK TV retailers like QVC and Ideal Shopping Direct posting gains during the recession, London’s established High Street retailers are looking to break into television, too. It seems the recession has more people sitting in front of screens in their homes, instead of popping into stores all over town. Argos (which sold £4.3 billion in general merchandise during its last fiscal year, mostly from 700 stores in the UK and Ireland) began a year-long trial of a new shopping channel on Sky TV this summer. Department store Debenhams, meanwhile, is demonstrating products by way of online video clips in an experiment called Debenhams TV. Financial Times Sept. 28, 2011
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UK Store-Based Retailers Look to “Telly” for New Revenue Stream
Bricks-and-Mortar, Distribution Channel, DRTV Retailer, Geography, UK/Europe
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Sep 292011
Who are the Best Online Shoppers? The Ones Using Tablets.
Distribution Channel, Worldwide Web
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Sep 282011
Members of the media examine Sony's new Android-based tablet computers.
Tablets account for only a small percentage of overall e-commerce, but the conversion rate for shoppers using them is 4% or 5%, versus 3% for shoppers using a traditional PC, according to an analyst at Forrester Research. Many retailers report that tablet users’ orders are 10% to 20% higher than other online shoppers, which makes some sense since the 9% of online shoppers who use tablets tend to be wealthier than other online shoppers. All of this has retailers like Macy’s, Sephora and QVC scrambling to cater to these hip, tablet-toting early adapters. Claire Watts, ceo of QVC U.S., sees tablets as “a key growth vehicle.”
Look for retailers’ websites to become less “point-and-click, underline, mousy” and more “big-button-touchscreen, fat-finger friendly” soon. The Wall Street Journal Sept. 28, 2011
QVC M-Commerce Site Wins Speed Test on 4 Handhelds
Distribution Channel, Mobile telephone
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Sep 282011
The results are in, and the M-Commerce site response time speed winner is QVC … at least on four popular handheld devices. Against heavy-hitting competition like Dell and Sears, m.QVC.com posted the fastest response times on the iPhone (1.74 seconds), Sprint’s HTC Hero (1.90 seconds), T-Mobile’s HTC Dream (3.59 seconds) and Verizon’s Droid (1.97 seconds). The tests were conducted by Compuware Corporation, a software and technology provider. Internet Retailer (Sept. 28, 2011)
Sep 272011
UK retail sales slowed in September, according to a survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). CBI’s “monthly sales volume balance” — which indicates the percentage of retailers reporting a rise in sales on the year minus those reporting a fall — dropped to minus 15 in September from minus 14 in August. The September number is the lowest such number since May of last year. The Wall Street Journal (Sept. 27, 2011)
September U.S. Consumer Confidence Barely Budges from August’s Low Mark
Geography, Research, Trends, Forecasts, USA
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Sep 272011
The Conference Board’s September consumer confidence index increased ever so slightly to 45.4 from a revised 45.2 reading in August that was the lowest since April 2009, when the economy was in a recession. In an announcement today, Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said, “The pessimism that shrouded consumers last month has spilled over into September. Consumer expectations, which had plummeted in August, posted a marginal gain. However, consumers expressed greater concern about their expected earnings, a sign that does not bode well for spending. In addition, consumers’ assessment of current conditions declined for the fifth consecutive month, a sign that the economic environment remains weak.” Conference Board Press Release (Sept. 27, 2011)
Judy Crowell
Having spent 15 years pitching for QVC — plus shorter stints at HSN and ShopNBC — Judy Crowell will take her talents to JTV starting this Thursday, September 29th. Crowell will represent JTV’s proprietary Stratify™ and Blooming Jewels™ Collections, which consist of gold-plated silver jewelry pieces. (Blooming Jewels™ pieces feature gemstones.) In the press release about Crowell’s new TV home, Pat Bryant, Chief Marketing Officer at JTV, said “We’re thrilled to have Judy Crowell on board to represent Stratify™ and Blooming Jewels.™ She understands jewelry trends and the home shopping industry as well as anyone in the country.” JTV Press Release via PR Newswire and the Sacramento Bee (Sept. 27, 2011)
Sep 272011
Mary Portas
UK branding and retailing expert Mary Portas stepped down from the lofty heights of brick-and-mortar retailing, and turned her perspicacious gaze upon QVC UK. She did not like what she saw. The talent sported fake tans. The sets looked cheap. And the whole garish show was simply “too American.” The horror!
She allowed that the retailer did live up to its convenience claim, but she wondered if the once-futuristic experience of shopping by television would fall victim to the internet. If she meant in an existential way, my guess is “no.” The Telegraph (UK) (Sept. 24, 2011)
QVC UK Using New Accounts Payable-Tracking Software
Distribution Channel, DRTV Retailer, Geography, Technology, UK/Europe
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Sep 272011
QVC UK’s accounts payable team has replaced a laborious, painstaking process designed to prevent double-paying its vendors with a software suite called AP Forensics®, which largely automates the process and catches mistakes before checks are cut. The retailer, which processes some 50,000 invoices annually, recouped its initial investment in the technology within its first month us use by preventing mistaken payments. AP Forensics® is a product of Fiscal Technologies. FISCAL Technologies Press Release (Sept. 26, 2011)
Aug 082011
Let’s face it, the Great Recession — which officially ended in June 2009 — landed a body blow to an economy that has barely picked itself up and dusted off. A second punch in a one-two recession combination, should it come, would be a knock-out for thousands of American families, depressing consumer demand for years. The New York Times Aug. 7, 2010
