QVC, the home shopping TV channel of Liberty Interactive Corp. (LINTA), launched a new broadcast channel called “QVC PLUS” yesterday. This second channel will currently air all the live broadcasts (TV shows) of the existing QVC channel at a delay of three hours. Management has decided to introduce some special programming in the QVC PLUS channel in future in order to broaden QVC’s offerings.
QVC is benefiting from the surge in online sales. Management stated that its online sales will constitute more than 50% of the total revenue in the U.S. by 2014.
The major thrust is coming from the growing adoption of high-end smartphones in the U.S. QVC is about to introduce a synchronized content for its mobile applications. This feature will enable smartphone users to get real time information about a product which is broadcasted on the TV show. This will promote online sales further.
Liberty Interactive’s Internet operations are primary growth engines. We expect QVC to continue leveraging its brand to rapidly grow its Internet operations. Exposure to international markets, such as Japan, Germany, Italy, and the U.K. will enable QVC to achieve a high rate of growth. QVC is gradually expanding its presence in these developed markets.
QVC PLUS will be available to DIRECTV (DTV) customers with immediate effect. Moreover, QVC has entered into carriage deals with Time Warner Cable Inc. (TWC) and Bright House Networks. According to a report of Internet Retailer, after Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), QVC was the second-largest e-commerce retailer in the U.S. in 2012. Liberty Interactive currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
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