PitchandShip.com

Ratings and Reviews Feature of ShopNBC Website Leads to Improvements in Product Presentation

ShopNBC execs are paying close attention to what customers are saying in the ratings and reviews feature of the retailer’s website.  Evocative color descriptions like “Sunset” are being fleshed out with additional descriptions, such as “burnt orange,” for example.  And because customers frequently have difficultly picturing the size of a watch on their wrists, the retailer is including .pdf file outlines of the watches it sells on its website, so interested customers can print them out and hold them up for comparison.  Carol Steinberg, SVP of e-commerce, marketing and business development at ShopNBC (who I think is wearing a “Sunset-burnt-orange” top at left) described the changes in an interview that led to an Internet Retailer story yesterday.

From the “Stigma Files”: Wisconsin Jeweler Helps Widower Sell Deceased Wife’s Secret Stash of QVC Jewelry

Paul’s Jewelry in West Allis, Wisconsin, is helping a recent widower sell hundreds of pieces of QVC jewelry that his recently-deceased wife had purchased without his knowledge in order to pay off debts.  The store’s website is promoting this “estate and rummage sale” with a promise that all proceeds go directly to offset the family’s debt.  Luxist, AOL Money & Finance Jun. 17, 2010

For QVC UK — Online Ratings and Reviews Are Just Like Neighbors Talking over the Backyard Fence

The poverbial backyard fence — that’s what TV on-air testimonials are meant to stand in for.  And now, with the QVC UK website racking up 3.5 million monthly session, online ratings and reviews simply brings that helpful, neighborly advice into the digital space.  The reviews are moderated, of course, but the retailer cares a great deal about its customers’ actual opinions.  Products are marketed, re-tooled, and even discontinued altogether based on user feedback.  Promotional events like the QVC Beauty Awards have been created out of whole cloth, based on ratings and reviews. More »

Two-Thirds of HSN’s Call Center Reps Work From Home

Several years ago, in the midst of a tight market for capable telephone representatives, HSN began a work-from-home program that has paid unexpected dividents.  The costs are somewhat higher than for on-site staff, but customer satisfaction shot up, sales performance improved and call rep turnover decreased from 120% a year to about 35%.  Partly as a result of the program’s success, the retailer has ended its practice of taking orders at an offshore call center in the Phillipines.  Of particulat interest — at least to this reader — is the extent to which HSN and its staff members use web-based social networking tools to keep in the loop.  “Home agents…use an instant messaging network among themselves, have blogs, 24/7 tech support and an online Buddy Trading System to swap work shifts on short notice.  St. Petersburg Times (FL) Mar. 1, 2009

HSN Contracts Alliance Data Systems for Credit Card Services

Alliance Data Systems Corp. (NYSE: ADS) has signed a multi-year agreement to provide co-brand and private label credit card services to HSN.  Tampa Bay Business Journal Jan. 15, 2009

QVC Lands Spot on Best Customer Service List

QVC placed eighth on a list of ten companies providing excellent customer service. The fourth annual Customers’ Choice survey asked 8,167 consumers which retailer delivered best service regardless of whether they sold through stores, catalog, the web or television. It was conducted by market research firm BIGresearch in September, and sponsored by the NRF Foundation, the research and education arm of the National Research Federation, and payment card company American Express.  First place went to LL Bean.  Internet Retailer Jan. 13, 2009

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Embezzler Cites QVC Shopping Addiction at Sentencing

At her sentencing in federal court Monday for embezzlement, Cassandra Ryder, a former teller at the Branch Banking & Trust (BB&T) in Copperhill, TN, explained that she was “…addicted to the QVC Shopping Network.”  Ryder embezzled from the bank account of a friend who (she knew) never reviewed her bank statements.  WTVC Channel 9 (Chatanooga, TN) Dec. 2, 2008

JTV Reaches Preliminary Settlement on Chemically-Altered Gemstone Suit

Yesterday, a judge approved a preliminary class-action settlment that will give cash refunds or store credits to thousands of JTV customers who purchased chemically-altered gemstones that were marketed as “all natural.” As part of the settlement, Jewelry Television admits no wrongdoing, but commits to training employees to help ensure future marketing complies with all rules and regulations. The settlement is expected to cost the retailer several million dollars.  WBIR, Channel 10 (TN) JCK Online International Diamond Exchange (Israel) Oct. 23, 2008

Is HSN Stalling on Customer Refunds?

A small item in The Miami Herald suggests so.  A correspondent to the newspaper’s new commenting section of the website asked for help securing a refund in the amount of $321 for a robotic vacuum that went out-of-stock after her payment-by-check had cleared.  The customer claims to have made repeated calls to HSN and being told each time that the check as in the mail.  Confirmation of this (in the form of the refund check itself) only came after a call placed by the newspaper.  The Miami Herald Oct. 6, 2008