Qvc Shopping Channel versus Qvc.Com Positioning For Future Growth
Abstract
John Segal is the person behind the development of Qvc. He developed this technology in West Chenster, Pennsylvania. This was back in June the Year 1986. After two years QVC.com was developed. However, despite the emergence of the later into the cable scene, Qvc tends to outdo its competitor in the marketing field. This is because it has always maintained dominant position in this new industry. The company has also managed to gain a large number of consumers’ confident and therefore it ended-up making a competitive advantage in the market. Nowadays, Qvc has shipped a significant number of packages to different consumers all over the world. This paper provides information relating to the problem that Qvc.com experiences while conducting its operations.
Introduction
Qvc is a shopping channel where sellers are able to get the chance of addressing consumers through television. Through Qvc, sellers get the chance of choosing the best television channel to use in order to meet large market coverage. This means that the sellers choose television channels that have a wide coverage area and which most consumers watch. One of the advantages of Qvc is that it has managed to gain a significant number of customers since its development in 1986. Qvc.com is also an advertisement tool that reaches its customers through a website. However, the main problem that tends to affect the operations of the Qvc.com is that shopping on television seems to offer more competition on its operations. This means that many of the consumers tend to get several of the advertisement on shopping channels rather than Qvc.
Various reasons led to the development of QVC in becoming one of the advertising industries. One of these is that the founding managers were able to make a considerable research concerning the strengths and weaknesses of the company. They also managed to learn from the mistakes that other companies in the advertising industries have managed to go through. In order to excel in the advertisement sector, QVC shopping channel managed to make a strategy that lured their customers in to the business. The strategy entailed capturing the attention of the public with the use of various quality products while they were making their advertisement (Gudelunas, 2002). The other strategy was the use experienced TV producers that could contribute in making the best advertisements in order to capture the attention of the consumers. The TV producers were entitled to have a significant experience in the sector so that to manage in giving the best show. Their first presentations resulted to be great and this played a significant role in building a positive picture to the audience. Moreover, Segal played a significant role in developing the company by believing in himself and using his talent to give the best of his ability (Gudelunas, 2002). This contributed to the firm background of the QVC shopping channel that has paid in winning a significant number of consumers or viewers. Moreover, QVC has been awarded several prices for being the best channel available on free television services (QVC named best shopping channel, 2010). This means that the company has enjoyed numerous benefits. Nowadays, QVC manages to introduce more than 200 new products each week. The company also manages to offer about seventeen hours of live advisement on television every day (QVC named best shopping channel, 2010).
Qvc.com also has several reasons that assisted it in being at the competitive market. However, the company has been facing a stiff competition from its competitors. One of the main competitors of the company is QVC. The main difference between QVC and QVC.Com is that the latter allows viewers to shop online while the other one gives viewers the chance to see all the items that they may need to buy through television. In order to remain in business, QVC.com has employed the strategy of satisfying its customers. Netflix, QVC.com Lead in Customer Satisfaction. (2007) indicates that QVC.com was named as the top company that when it comes to the issue of satisfying customers who manage to pay a visit to the site. However, because of high competition in the market, other companies in the industry like QVC are outdoing QVC.com. Some of the negative feedbacks that viewers raise in relation to the website fail to offer the hybrid of talk show that clients would expect. Even though the company values its customers much, this issue of talk show tends to make viewers raise concern. The other issue is the fact the online shoppers do not get the chance to interact with the host. This makes it hard for the shoppers to get an appropriate chance of receiving a positive feedback whereby they can be able to order items immediately. These are some of the weaknesses of the company. However, QVC.com seems to have various opportunities and threats that in its operations. If the company manages to focus on all these issues, there is a high chance that it will manage to prosper in future. Moreover, the company will also manage to win back the loyalty and confidence of its potential customers. The following is the SWOT analysis of QVC.com.
Strengths
• One of the strengths of the company is the fact that it manages to create a strong relationship with every viewer who manages to visit the website. This is an advantage in the sense that viewer may decide to visit the website another time.
• The other strength is that the company’s strong interactive mechanisms with its customers give it the opportunity to have a positive image among many viewers.
• The other strength is that increase in the growth of online business gives the company the opportunity to have a number of new visitors daily. This translates to the fact that the more the number of visitors that the company gets, the more revenues it receives.
Weaknesses
• The company fails to offer a hybrid of talk show. This means that some viewers tend to become bored while seeking services from the company.
• The other weakness is that customers do not get the chance of interacting with the host.
• Another weakness is that the high leverage associated with the company affects its profitability. This makes it hard for the company to generate more profits that it would use in making any future investments.
Opportunities
• One of the main opportunities that the company ought to focus on is recovering advertisement industry. This might play a significant role in providing the company with new business opportunities and therefore help it in winning more customers in future.
• The other opportunity that would help the company to meet viewers’ satisfaction is adoption of HD video. This will assist the company’s host to interact with viewers anytime that they visit the website.
• The other opportunity is that the company may consider acquisition of Barnes and Noble. This would play a crucial role in boosting the company’s top line growth.
Threats
• One of the potential threats is that the intense competition on the available market may affect the company’s share in the market.
• The other threat is changes that tend to emerge now and then on various regulations with online businesses may affect the company’s activities in the future.
• The other threat is that the increase in hacking incidents may affect the company’s operations. Moreover, the hacking incidents may also affect the company’s reputation causing it to lose many of its potential customers.
Alternatives
In order for the QVC.com Company to stay in the competitive market, it has to refocus on its business strategy. The company may consider the following alternatives:
Cost effective
One of the strategies is focusing on its costs. Considering the fact that there is a high competition in the market, the company may decide in lowering its costs in an attempt of winning back most of its customers. Most customers tend to go where there is minimal amount of costs and therefore this would be a significant strategy for the company to employ.
Mission and objectives
The other significant strategy that the company might consider employing is refocusing on its mission and objectives. This means that it is necessary for the company’s mission and objectives to address the well-being of its customers. Customers should always have the first priority in the company’s operations.
Stakeholders Relations
The other alternative is considering building a strong relationship with all the stakeholders. This means that the company ought to work on building a strong relationship with all stakeholders in order they can actively participate on its business operations.
Recommendations
One of the recommendations is that the company ought to consider employing new technologies on its website. This will defiantly create a new picture for the company where viewers will be more interested to conduct their businesses activities. For example, the company may consider employing chatting options where viewers can contact with the hosts directly.
The other recommendation is that the company ought to focus more on advertising the website. This will create a chance for many other new customers to know about the existence of the website and conduct business activities. Advertisements can be done on any other media channels in order to reach a large number of new customers (Hunger & Wheelen, 2007).
Conclusion
The above information indicates that QVC.com Company has much to do in order to change its reputation and win back the confidence of its potential customers. The company ought to consider much on focusing on the needs of its customers so that it may remain the top of the competitive market. This means that the company may consider on adapting new technologies and improving the system of the website.
References
Gudelunas, D. D. (2002). QVC: Television Retail & Ritual. Journal Of American & Comparative Cultures, 25(1/2), 105-118.
Hunger, J. D., & Wheelen, T. L. (2007). Essentials of Strategic Management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
McArdle, M. (2010). The Genius of QVC. Atlantic Monthly (10727825), 305(5), 34-38. Netflix, QVC.com Lead in Customer Satisfaction. (2007). Chain Store Age, 83(7), 82.
QVC named best shopping channel. (2010). DIY Week, 26.
