QVC is approaching middle age, eyeing its fortieth birthday in 2026. As a TV staple, it survived the arrival of the web age and Amazon. Still, its parent company, Qurate, has been grappling with declining earnings. Because it looks to counter that trend, Qurate announced that it has hired Mara Sirhal to be chief merchandising officer for QVC US, which is the corporate’s largest business unit.
Qurate ranks No. 18 within the Top 1000 Digital Commerce 360 database of the biggest North American e-retailers by online sales. There, Qurate is categorized as a Mass Merchant. Digital Commerce 360 projects that Qurate’s web sales will reach $5.44 billion in 2024.
Qurate web sales by yr
Mara Sirhal’s latest QVC role
Mara Sirhal, Chief Merchandising Officer for QVC US
Sirhal involves QVC from Saks Off fifth, where she led merchandising efforts. She also brings greater than 20 years of experience in specialty retail. She’s going to report back to Mike Fitzharris, president of QVC US. Stacy Bowe previously held the merchandising role before she was appointed president of Qurate Retail’s HSN business unit in February.
“Mara brings a singular mix of merchandising, brand and omnichannel leadership that shall be critical as we proceed to strengthen the QVC business through our Age of Possibility campaign,” Fitzharris said in a released statement. “As we execute on our strategic priorities and further differentiate QVC within the marketplace with our core demographic, we look ahead to Mara’s customer-centricity, brand-building acumen and transformational leadership.”
Along with personnel changes, QVC has committed efforts to reinvent itself with its core audience: women over 50. They’ve launched a marketing mantra often known as the “Age of Possibility.” QVC’s latest campaign platform goals to showcase life at ages 50 and over. It seeks to depict that life stage as a vibrant era filled with latest questions, changes, opportunities and hopes. They usually have enlisted star power to assist with messaging. Those celebrities include Christina Applegate, Patti LaBelle, Rita Wilson, Naomi Watts, Martha Stewart, Queen Latifah, Jennie Garth and others.
QVC’s challenges looking ahead
“I’m thrilled to hitch QVC and look ahead to working alongside this talented team to deliver incredible product and exceptional experiences for our customer!” Sirhal posted to LinkedIn.
QVC has long been known for moving cookware, beauty products and apparel. Sirhal brings a wealth of experience to that role. She will even be answerable for QVC’s Buying, Planning & Programming organization and lead QVC’s Design Development & Global Sourcing (DDGS) team. DDGS is an in-house capability to bring latest brands, products, and ideas to life. Its efforts impact product categories in apparel, accessories, outerwear and residential décor, all core QVC product verticals.
Meanwhile, Juan Pellerano, chief marketing officer of the ecommerce shipping and returns platform Swap, says QVC has faced headwinds and that doubling down on its core demographic may not be a sensible long-term strategy.
“QVC has struggled to evolve with consumer shopping preferences and has chosen to reinvest within the 50+ demo moderately than attempting to draw a brand new audience,” Pellerano said.
“Knowing QVC’s reinvestment in an aging demographic, it’s hard to ascertain a turnaround considering massive investor pressure from the specter of being delisted by December since they’re trading under $1 on the NASDAQ for over 30 days,” Pellerano added, saying pressure is on for a turnaround, or the corporate might need to go private.
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