Skip to content
Link copied to clipboard
Link copied to clipboard

West Chester-based QVC steps into the TikTok age as its parent company rebrands with social media in mind

The company, Qurate Retail, is also leaning on QVC's name recognition as it aims to refresh its image and improve its reach.

Qurate's new growth strategy comes as its largest flagship brand, QVC, has been struggling to cover costs, due in part to competition from the rise of e-commerce on social media platforms. A studio at QVC's West Chester campus is shown here during a taping of holiday programming in November 2023.
Qurate's new growth strategy comes as its largest flagship brand, QVC, has been struggling to cover costs, due in part to competition from the rise of e-commerce on social media platforms. A studio at QVC's West Chester campus is shown here during a taping of holiday programming in November 2023.Read moreMonica Herndon / Staff Photographer

The company behind QVC has rolled out a plan to lean more heavily into streaming and social-media shopping in the new year.

QVC, the West Chester-based shopping network, is primed to be at the forefront: The parent company, Qurate Retail Group, will also change its name to “QVC Group” in the first three months of 2025.

Customers of QVC and its smaller counterpart HSN can expect to see the networks ramp up their social-media presence, according to the company, with more ways to shop on different platforms, through affiliate digital storefronts, and via livestreams. Qurate leaders said their goals include creating “the world’s leading live social shopping content engine,” with programming tailored specifically for TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and other platforms.

“Live social shopping is a natural evolution for us,” David L. Rawlinson II, Qurate’s president and CEO, said in a statement “Our customers are spending dramatically more time on social media, and that is increasingly where they are finding inspiration and shopping.”

The announcement of Qurate’s latest growth strategy comes as it has struggled to cover its costs, in part due to increased competition from places like TikTok Shop, a digital marketplace within the popular video app, as The Inquirer reported last year.

» READ MORE: QVC helped pioneer shopping from home. Here’s how the company is changing — and competing against TikTok. (From November 2023)

The company underperformed in terms of revenue in the third quarter of 2024, according to its latest earnings report, and it continued to lose customers, dropping from 8.2 million to 7.9 million annual customers compared to the same period last year. In the third quarter of 2022, the company had logged 9.3 million annual customers.

In an interview last November, Rawlinson told The Inquirer that he believed “trends are in [Qurate’s] favor,” with the company’s studios, warehouses, and trained staff giving them a leg up over digital competitors.

QVC was a pioneer of home shopping — before it involved laptops and cell phones, and could be done virtually anywhere. For decades, QVC and the Florida-based HSN have sold clothing, electronics, household goods, and a wide array of other products on live TV at all hours. With the rise of online shopping in recent years, the networks have pivoted to also offer their services on streaming platforms and through a Qurate-backed livestream app called Sune.

With its new plan, the company aims to expand its online reach, in hopes of making more than $1.5 billion in run-rate revenue from streaming and social within its first three years as “QVC Group.” Officials say they hope the name change — which more directly connects Qurate to its largest flagship brand — will help in achieving those goals.

“QVC is a globally well known, highly regarded brand with goodwill and trust built over decades,” Rawlinson said. “It immediately conveys what makes this company so special, and it gives us a terrific foundation to build around as we target growth in the future.”