TV and web retailer QVC says mobile sales were up 47% in the third quarter of 2014 from the same period last year to $407 million, up from $277 million. QVC CEO Mike George said on a recent earnings call that mobile now accounts for 43% of all global e-commerce orders and more than half of all e-commerce orders completed in the U.K. and Japan.
“That growth has been supported by our investments this year in responsive design technology and the global rollout of enhanced apps with richer functionality,” George says.
Parent company Liberty Interactive recently spun off QVC from its other e-commerce properties, including online invite company Evite, fitness e-retailer BodyBuilding.com, and outdoor apparel e-retailer BackCountry.com.
Right now, mobile accounts for 41% of all orders placed on QVC.com and 39% of the company’s global net revenue.
Building upon the company’s momentum in mobile is going to be a focus heading into the holiday season, the company said.
Late last month, the company announced it had incorporated Apple’s Touch ID technology in with its own app in an effort to make it easier for customers to complete transactions on their Apple devices. George says he views iPads as being a complementary tool to QVC’s programming, allowing the company to better educate shoppers on the items they’re looking to buy.
“We just launched enhanced second screen capabilities to transform the iPad into the perfect companion device for our on-air programming,” he says. “Customers are now able to watch the live program and browse detailed product information simultaneously and take advantage of rich interactive features like customer reviews and social feeds to inform their purchase decisions.”
To help make those purchasing decisions easier, George says the company is going to be more proactive in terms of pushing out content in an effort to engage shoppers, particularly over the holidays.
“Every week, we’ll be publishing a new interactive digital guidebook featuring the hottest gift trends, DIY holiday project videos and meal planning ideas from our program hosts, celebrity chefs and on air guests,” he says. “Customers will be able to create their own curated wish list collections onto Gather, our social shopping platform, which they can share with other customers.”
For the third quarter, QVC’s also reported:
- A slight increase in revenue from the same period last year, with overall sales up 4% to $2.020 billion in Q3 2014 from $1.947 billion in Q3 2013.
- E-commerce sales grew 11% to reach $781 million from $705 million a year earlier. E-commerce accounts for 38.66% of total revenue compared with 36.2% a year earlier.
- In the U.S., overall revenue was up 5% from this time last year, jumping from $1.303 billion in Q3 2013 to $1.368 billion in 2014.
- E-commerce revenue in the U.S. grew 11% to $592 million from $535 million a year earlier, accounting for 43.27% of total U.S. sales compared with 41.06% a year earlier.
- Mobile sales accounted for a higher percentage of U.S. e-commerce sales in Q3 2014, making up 41.34% of all e-commerce revenue, or $244.73 million up from 31.62% or $169.17 million in Q3 2013.
QVC did not provide year-to-date numbers.
Favorite