{"id":439,"date":"2025-04-10T11:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T11:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/?p=439"},"modified":"2025-07-13T14:54:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T14:54:11","slug":"flash-sales-and-charm-bracelets-will-qvcs-24-hour-tiktok-shopping-channel-entice-gen-z","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/birthdayvoucher.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/10\/flash-sales-and-charm-bracelets-will-qvcs-24-hour-tiktok-shopping-channel-entice-gen-z\/","title":{"rendered":"Flash sales and charm bracelets: will QVC\u2019s 24-hour TikTok shopping channel entice gen Z?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I<\/span>\u2019m watching a woman standing in her living room in front of a table stacked with woven faux-leather fanny packs. She\u2019s convincing me to use the next two minutes to score a deal on a bag I definitely do not need. A countdown clock ticks down in the corner screen. It\u2019s a classic QVC scene, but instead of watching TV, I\u2019m on TikTok<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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For nearly 40 years, the QVC shopping channel has shown frizzy-haired, middle-aged women hawking clunky charm jewelry and bath towels. During the network\u2019s peak in the 1990s and early 2000s, it was must-watch television for stay-at-home moms and bargain hunters. (An ageing Marlon Brando reportedly sought \u2013 and was denied<\/a> \u2013 a hosting gig in the early aughts.)<\/p>\n

By the early aughts, QVC reached<\/a> 82m households, with 6.7 million people using it to shop, spending $3.9bn on the channel in 2001. Tourists made pilgrimages to the network\u2019s studio, then located in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and another retail store it owned in Minnesota\u2019s Mall of America.<\/p>\n

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The company received a lockdown-era bump early in the pandemic, when people had nothing to do but shop from their homes, but has since experienced a series of crises, such as a drop in sales as the pandemic eased up, supply chain issues, competition with super-cheap Chinese fast-fashion retailers such as Temu, and a warehouse fire costing QVC a half a billion dollars in inventory. Last month, the company laid off 900 employees, or 5% of its workforce, as it consolidated offices in West Chester and St Petersburg, Florida. With cable\u2019s heyday long over, QVC\u2019s new aim is to become<\/a> \u201cthe world\u2019s leading live social shopping content engine\u201d.<\/p>\n

In response, the company launched a 24-hour shopping stream on TikTok last week, promising \u201cunmatched capabilities in live content production and discovery-driven retail\u201d. David Rawlinson II, president and CEO of QVC Group Inc, told<\/a> CNBC last week that he was confident TikTok streams were \u201cthe next big thing in retail\u201d.<\/p>\n

A shift to the platform might seem risky ahead of a potential US ban of the Chinese video-sharing app and the general uncertainty caused by Trump\u2019s tariff doom spiral. But the long, slow death knell of retail forces companies to make speculative moves.<\/p>\n

So, can TikTok save QVC? The channel has more than 502,000 TikTok followers, and has sold more than 298,000 products on the app. Still, anyone expecting a total revamp of QVC\u2019s tried-and-true programming will be disappointed. There are some TikTok tropes here; the hosts broadcast live from what looks like their homes (real-life kitchens or living rooms that look lived in) as opposed to a sterile soundstage. They interact with viewers who leave comments asking questions about the products they\u2019re hawking or how much they love to shop.<\/p>\n

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