QVC+ and HSN+ streamers launching

QVC and HSN, two home-shopping channels owned by Qurate Retail Group are rolling out a new take on streaming offerings.

QVC+ and HSN+ are both rolling out in the summer of 2022 via many popular streaming platforms, smart TVs, mobile apps and on the company’s websites.

Each will bundle the existing live streams of QVC, QVC2, QVC3, HSN and HSN2 plus multiple streaming-only linear offerings and on-demand content.

vCommerce Ventures, which is part of Qurate, will develop and run the new offering with a focus on innovating in the interactive commerce space.

Quarate already has deals in place with various cable providers that add interactive shopping to its programs. For example, Xfinity subscribers can say “let’s shop” into the voice remote control and it will launch a special user interface with the live QVC feed and a menu of shopping tools.

The streaming offerings, however, will essentially operate as separate channels and have different merchandise lineups, programming schedules and streaming only-deals.

Plans also call for long-form programming, such as documentary-style pieces that explore partner brands, celebrity partners, business owners and other aspects of the products and services QVC and HSN sell with the opportunity buy from the brands mentioned. 

Later in 2022, QVC announced it would stream original films in the vein of Hallmark holiday movies — with ecommerce tie-ins of course.

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QVC previously offer a channel called “QVC Plus” (with “plus” spelled out), that broadcast the main QVC feed on a three-hour delay. That channel was eventually rebranded as QVC2 and its success ultimately lead to QVC3.

By using the “+” branding, QVC and HSN become two of the latest brands to jump on that bandwagon. The simple mathematical symbol has become synonymous with a streaming brand.

All of this is part of Qurates efforts to expand beyond traditional linear television as cord-cutting has reduced the number of people who can even see its on-air sales pitches.

It’s also trying to redefine home shopping via television (or streaming in this case) as appealing to new audiences who are all but addicted to Amazon. 

Opening up the channels to live streams online was an early step in this effort and the company has added features such as shoppable experiences while also boosting its ecommerce side. 

That said, the company still lacks many of the ecommerce features that many customers, especially younger ones, expect, including fast and free shipping with no or little minimum orders and free returns (Qurate deducts return shipping costs from returns and doesn’t refund original costs either, but does typically offer free exchanges). 

Both channels do run promotional offers on select items with free or reduced shipping, but most of its processing and shipping times are longer than what giants such as Amazon can process largely due to a big different in the number of strategically-placed distribution centers.