Inside the Shocking Resurgence of Shop-at-Home Television, Courtesy of Mobile Devices

August 29, 2024         By: Steven Anderson

Home shopping channels, for many people, are either a source of derision over what are considered almost comically kitschy products, or the things they speed past when searching for something decent to watch.

In recent days, that’s changed somewhat, and home shopping channels seem to be making a comeback, and mobile payments—along with mobile devices—seem to have a hand in driving that comeback.

The home shopping channel used to be one of the biggest games around, at its height landing about eight million homes’ worth of viewership.

That may not sound so hot, but given that, about the same time, one of the most popular shows on television, The Cosby Show, netted about 29 million viewers, it’s not half bad. When you’re pulling in just shy of a third of Cosby in the eighties, you’re doing some serious numbers.

However, new reports suggest that this often-derided form of shopping may be experiencing something of a renaissance thanks to mobile devices.

With users watching an average of 17 channels, and an average of approaching 200 channels available just in 2013, it’s progressively harder to be one of those channels.

QVC isn’t doing too badly, though; it’s currently 10th in the Internet Retailer’s Top 500 Guide for 2016, and the third largest mobile retailer the United States has to its credit, which is something of a surprise in its own right.

QVC’s survival is due in part to an impressive understanding of its audience, as well as a willingness to expand, and that’s a combination that’s allowed it to hold its line for some time.

Its mobile operations are doing quite well, representing 58 percent of all of QVC’s total e-commerce orders, a nine percent jump from just this time last year.

It’s made inroads in to social media, email, and most everything else that makes a complete omnichannel operation.

It’s that devotion to change that’s giving it a lot of extra room to run. With a market that’s constantly in flux, QVC’s recognition of the change in the market is making it a great competitor in the field. In an era where mobile rules and Amazon seems to rule mobile, seeing a long-time great like QVC hold its own is a development well worth watching.