Curate, the owner of QVC and HSN and a first timer on this headline on this show, I think, and I don't think we've ever done a Curate Retail headline before.
Speaker AIt is rebranding the QVC Group.
Speaker ARebranding to QVC Group as It aims for $1.5 billion in revenue from live streaming and social media within three years.
Speaker AAccording to Retail Dive.
Speaker AThe company is renaming itself the QVC group by Q1 of 2025 and part of its new strategy, the company will continue to amplify its QVC plus and HSN streaming platforms and develop streaming commerce options for channels including Netflix, Hulu and YouTube TV, bring celebrities and sales content to its social media channels, refresh its production studios and tailor its content to TikTok, Facebook, YouTube and other platforms.
Speaker AAs Anne was just talking about a few seconds ago, it should also be noted that QR Retail Group has struggled with falling sales.
Speaker AIn June, the company said it was facing a delisting from NASDAQ and has until December 9 to regain compliance in its Q3 earnings.
Speaker AReleased earlier this month, the company also reported a 5% dip in revenue.
Speaker AYear over year and a year ago, the company landed on retail dives bankruptcy watch list.
Speaker AAnne, do you think Curate Retail's rebrand and more overt goals to drive revenue via live streaming and social media will help to reverse the tide of this once prosperous brand?
Speaker AI feel like as ominously as possible.
Speaker BYeah, I was like this show has turned into a show about retail turnarounds.
Speaker ABut it's kind of the state of the state right now.
Speaker BRight, right, right.
Speaker BSo to me, this is another no duh thing for Curate Retail.
Speaker BLike, yes, you need.
Speaker AOh really?
Speaker BOh yeah.
Speaker BYou need to revamp.
Speaker BYou need to rethink your strategy because Chris, here's the thing.
Speaker BI think people may associate QVC and the Home Shopping Network with an older demographic, but look, those.
Speaker BThere's still money to be made from that demographic.
Speaker AIt probably should, yes, but.
Speaker BBut there, there is still money to be made there.
Speaker BExcept those people are also on social platforms now.
Speaker BThey're not watching TV as much anymore.
Speaker BThey're scrolling on their phones.
Speaker BAnd so I think it makes a ton of sense to take the platform that QVC and the Curate group are very, very well versed in and move it to social, like move it to Facebook.
Speaker BI still think there's a lot of opportunity there to capture sales and capture an experience that's familiar to that audience.
Speaker BAnd then I think you're also bringing in fresh blood.
Speaker BWe interviewed Mara Soral.
Speaker BShe Was formerly of Saks off fifth.
Speaker BShe's in there as a new merchant.
Speaker BYou got the Rue and Guild groups, Rosalia Bucaro, that's also joining there.
Speaker BSo I think you have that, that new insight, especially from a merchandising perspective, that could help bolster and make Curate relevant again to that younger demographic at the same time.
Speaker BSo I think this is something that they absolutely have to do.
Speaker BAnd whether or not it's going to be successful is another question.
Speaker BBut live streaming is coming back in popularity.
Speaker BI think it fell out of favor a little bit for a while.
Speaker BBut again, this is something.
Speaker BThis is a methodology that is when you get people engaging with an individual online, the sales go up, they increase, the baskets get bigger.
Speaker BSo I think this is a very necessary move from Curate.
Speaker BBut what do you think?
Speaker AYeah, and it's.
Speaker AAnd it's more about.
Speaker AIt's, you know, it's the live stream.
Speaker AIt's more about video commerce.
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AWhen we go into our feeds, we're watching the video feeds now.
Speaker AWe're not watching the static feeds, we're all watching the video feeds.
Speaker AAnd a couple of things come to mind for me on this story.
Speaker AAnd number one is like, you're just doing this now.
Speaker BLike, oh, yeah.
Speaker AI mean, I mean, like, like, seriously, like, that's kind of an indictment.
Speaker AAnd so the other point I make is like, I don't think this is going to make a hill of beans bit of difference because as you just described in the.
Speaker AYeah, because as you described in the last headline, the world, you're calling time and death.
Speaker AYeah, the world just doesn't work this way anymore.
Speaker AAnd it just doesn't.
Speaker AAnd direct influence, first of all, direct influencer content is cheaper to produce and it's more readily available than ever before.
Speaker AAnd so then it's harder to differentiate something as the QVC group.
Speaker ALike, you know, so, you know, as we learned in our webinar, like you said yesterday with Cody's former chief digital officer, video is going to be the primary medium by which consumers conduct commerce.
Speaker AI just don't see how QVC continues to thrive in that age.
Speaker ABecause the individual content creators will work.
Speaker AThey're going to work.
Speaker AThere's so many of them now because it's so easy to do.
Speaker AThey're going to work to keep the margins themselves.
Speaker AThey don't need QVC providing the production studios and the distribution and the pretty spokesperson people anymore.
Speaker AThe brands don't need that either.
Speaker AThey can just go directly to the influencers that matter the most.
Speaker ASo, like, yeah, I don't understand what Value Add QVC is playing anymore, because in the old days, yeah, they had this fancy studio.
Speaker AThey had the fancy show person with the nice pearly white teeth and that just.
Speaker AYou don't need that anymore.
Speaker AIt's gone.
Speaker ASo I'm, I'm so negative on this story, man.
Speaker ALike this.
Speaker AThis is like glass, Chris.
Speaker AGlass.
Speaker AHalf Empty Day.
Speaker AI think.
Speaker BYeah, I think you're raising some.
Speaker BYou're definitely raising some important.
Speaker AThere's some good points there, right, Ann?
Speaker BI.
Speaker BFor sure.
Speaker BI.
Speaker BI just.
Speaker BI'm not ready to call time of death yet on them.
Speaker BI still think that they have.
Speaker BThey have this.
Speaker BThe knowledge and the know how.
Speaker BIs this a little late?
Speaker BYes, definitely.
Speaker BBut I.
Speaker BI still think that there's a venue.
Speaker BYes, there's.
Speaker BThere's a lot of investment in UGC and there's a lot of investment in individual creators.
Speaker BBut.
Speaker BBut I still think that there's some value that can be driven from, you know, having somebody that can.
Speaker BThat has already has a platform and a dedicated base of consumers who are used to buying from this platform.
Speaker BThey just need to move it to a new.
Speaker BTo a new place, to Facebook, to Instagram or whatever it might be.
Speaker BBut it'll be a fun one to watch.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AThat's the interesting thing for me, though, like, even in our business, I think the power is in the individual creator versus conglomerations like this.
Speaker AAnd that's where we're going to see more individual creators get more powerful and extend their reach too.
Speaker ASo I don't know.
Speaker ABut unfortunately, Anne, I think we've got a story here at the end that's going to perk me up and get me a little glass house.
Speaker BOh, my God.
Speaker AAll right.