QVC Company Vision Statement
External forces of competition affect all companies and the television shopping industry is no different. There are many forces than can be grouped into a few categories: economic, socio-cultural, technological, and political-legal. These forces have had a major impact on the television shopping industry. QVC’s ability to understand their environment and adapt have helped them achieve success. Under economic forces, competition is a major component. The barrier for entry is low, so there is always the threat of new businesses.
Substitute products also directly compete with QVC’s products and customer dollars. Other potent forces are changes in the supply chain. QVC must constantly be on the lookout for new products, while maintaining good relations and contracts with existing suppliers. The rate of growth of the economy will affect consumer spending which directly relates to QVC’s goods sold. Inflation is always relevant and can cut into a company’s bottom line. Socio-cultural forces are extremely important to QVC and the television shopping industry.
Consumer preference and trends are vital to a company trying to meet the needs of its customers. QVC has adapted to recent trends by promoting its cosmetics, apparel, food, and toys heavily. QVC also has to consider what will attract customers to their channel. They incorporated the reality T. V. craze into their programming and it helped attract viewers and customers. QVC’s in-show appearance of designers has capitalized on designer’s current popularity.
Other forces like growing health consciousness, and changing household composition, will be important factors for QVC as they try to understand their customers and improve their shopping experience. Technological forces are important to the television shopping industry for many reasons. In the internal environment, new technology can help improve infrastructure, reduce costs, and improve efficiency. The consumer’s convenience of purchase is crucial to people who shop off of their couches. Harnessing new technology will also help QVC stay in touch with the customer.
With the evolution of mobile browsing, social media, and other media outlets, these forces represent a large opportunity to communicate with customers. Technological forces are also important to the shopping industry because firms will look to stay up-to-date on the latest products. If QVC can identify the next iPod-like product then they will reap the benefits of a massive consumer response. Finally, political-legal forces represent laws and regulations to the television shopping industry.
There will always be laws and regulations in place that affect the manner in which a company does business. From QVC’s standpoint, they might need to follow certain protocol when describing payment options, or product specifications. Industry regulations are generally in position to protect the customer, which aligns well with QVC’s no hidden fees policy. QVC’s honesty with their customers will bolster their reputation and help them operate well within the guidelines set by the government.
