Currently, mobile is driving 22 percent of QVC digital sales. This holiday season, the company has also delivered new social ways to further engage with consumers.

“As retailing gets increasingly promotional, events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become an obstacle for many consumers who feel they must compete for parking spaces and elbow room at the malls, and sift through an ocean of doorbuster clutter from online ads, circulars, and emails,” said Doug Rose, senior vice president of marketing and programming at QVC.

“In the midst of all this noise, we’re finding that more and more consumers are craving a return to sanity,” he said. “Mobile is one of the many platforms we offer to allow customers to enjoy their time, and shop for inspired gift ideas at honest values and great service, on their terms – when the time is right for them, and on the platform that is right for them.

“Mobile is quickly becoming customers’ preferred method of shopping. One great aspect of the QVC model is that we are able to efficiently adapt to customer preferences, from the brands they love to the places they prefer to shop. We offer the convenience of being able to shop with ease, regardless of platform. We call it QVC Everywhere, and with this growing trend of mobile shopping, customers really are shopping QVC everywhere and anywhere.”

Holiday shopping
QVC sees Mobile Monday as a key milestone.

More consumers are taking advantage of shopping via their mobile devices this holiday season.

To prepare for the influx of shoppers, QVC has ramped up its digital shopping strategy to expand its presence across TV, PC, tablet and mobile platforms.

“We often joke that if smartphones and tablets hadn’t come along, QVC would have had to invent them ourselves,” Mr. Rose said. “Our business is ideally suited for mobile shopping. And as the world’s leading video and ecommerce retailer, QVC is reinventing the digital shopping experience around the world – from the US to Europe and Japan.

“Mobile commerce aligns with this overall objective, as well as our focus on building a superior customer experience,” he said. “We are experts at building trust and engaging customers across multimedia platforms.

“Our mobile operations extend that trusted customer relationship by anticipating our customers’ needs and offering accessible, mobile solutions – whether they want new ways to interact with our hosts and brands as they spend time enjoying the shopping experience or the power of efficient purchasing to save time.”

Socially driven
In addition to mobile, social will also be a major force in driving holiday traffic.

QVC will unveil fresh inspired gift ideas everyday on its Web site and through social channels, such as Facebook and Twitter.

Additionally, there will be a Gift Tab that will let shoppers click to discover gift ideas inspired by real people, including QVC hosts, guests and the QVC customer community.

Furthermore, QVC will also feature the most pinned items from the QVC Pinterest boards, which is just one of the many ways shoppers contribute to QVC’s gift ideas.

“QVC customers are a highly engaged community, and they are not shy with their opinions,” Mr. Rose said. “Whether we’re providing a shopping experience that she loves, or if we’ve disappointed her in any way, we and millions of like-minded shoppers hear about it together, in real time.

“Not only do they love to shop with QVC, but they are engaging with us and with other customers in community forums, over Facebook, on Pinterest and through product feedback,” he said. “With such highly social customers, we’ve created fun and inspiring ways to share holiday ideas with the QVC community this year – from sharing images of Inspired Gift Ideas on Facebook to the most pinned items from the QVC Pinterest boards.

“So in addition to fans learning about our great values through direct emails, visiting the website or tuning into our programming, new and existing customers will see QVC gift ideas across their favorite social media channels as well.”

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York