Racked sent a reporter to their studios in Florida to learn more.
- Yes, HSN really does take in $2.5 billion per year from shoppers watching at home, either over the phone or online.
- HSN knows a lot about you… if you’re a woman over 35 who likes to shop HSN. Their VP of marketing is really, really into their typical customer: “We love her. We talk about her all the time,” she said. “There’s not a minute of the day that goes by that we’re not thinking about her.” In a marketing context, that’s not creepy. Just intense.
- HSN uses wheelchairs to whisk on-air hosts quickly from one set to another. Crew members push them. Yes, the hosts can walk or even run, but if they did, they might get a hair out of place or be out of breath when they have to be back on the air within seconds.
- The real-time feedback is intense: on-air hosts can see monitors that show how well an item is selling, and they’re able to answer questions that customers ask when they call in immediately on the air.
- The only day the channel doesn’t run live is Christmas, when it plays pre-taped sales segments.
- HSN was an early version of the online flash sale: reality star and HSN fashion pitchwoman Guiliana Rancic says that she can sell 40,000 of one item in a day on HSN, which isn’t really how sales work elsewhere in the fashion industry.
- The idea of over-the-air shopping was born in 1977 when a Florida radio station received a box of can openers from a cash-poor advertiser, and sold them live on the air. It became a regular show, which spread to local public-access cable and then nationwide.
- About 43% of the company’s sales actually come in through the website, and those shoppers aren’t necessarily watching the channel live.
- Their website features arcade-style games for customers who feel at home with the brand but don’t want to go shopping right now.
HSN and the Power of the TV Shopper [Racked]
by Laura Northrup via Consumerist
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