Web site ecommerce sales are rising

as U.S. Consumers placed more than half of QVC.com orders on mobile devices.

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E-commerce sales, particularly through mobile devices, continue to account for more of QVC Group’s business. The TV, web and mobile e-retailer, a division of Liberty Interactive Corp., says U.S. e-commerce sales totaled $678.0 million in the third quarter, or 47.7% of total U.S. revenue, compared with 43.3% in the year-ago period.

Liberty Interactive Corp. has two divisions: QVC Group, which consists of QVC, zulily and a portion of HSN Inc., and its Digital Commerce unit Liberty Ventures Group, which includes e-retailers Bodybuilding.com, Evite and Right Start as well as e-commerce technology provider CommerceHub. Liberty Interactive reports earnings on each division as well as the company as a whole.

Of QVC Group’s U.S. online orders, 52.2% were placed from mobile devices, up from 41.3% in the same quarter in 2014. Mobile accounted for 53% of global QVC Group’s web orders, up from 43% a year ago. Globally, QVC.com generated $861 million in the third quarter ended Sept. 30, a 10% increase from the $781 million global web sales a year earlier.

Record sales through mobile devices resulted from changes in QVC’s e-commerce design and other digital initiatives, QVC president and CEO Michael A. George said on a call with investment analysts. He said 30% of the e-retailer’s new customers in the quarter came through mobile, according to a transcript from Seeking Alpha. “These latest updates are part of a strategic redesign of our web and mobile platforms globally, including incorporating responsive design to optimize the experience across all screen sizes,” George said. QVC, No. 15 in the Internet Retailer 2015 Top 500 Guide, also launched an app for Apple TV last week.

Liberty Ventures Group increased 4% to $146.0 million in the third quarter from $141.0 million a year ago. The increase was driven by CommerceHub, whose sales increased through its acquisition of Mercent during the first quarter of 2015. Mercent helps retailers sell on online marketplaces like Amazon and eBay and provides other marketing services.

For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, QVC Group reports:

  • U.S. e-commerce revenue increased 15% to $678.0 million from $592.0 million a year earlier.
  • Total U.S. revenue increased 3.6% to $1.42 billion from $1.37 billion a year ago.
  • Online sales accounted for 47.7% of U.S. sales compared with 43.3% a year earlier.
  • International QVC revenue fell 10.0% to $587.0 million from $652.0 million a year ago. The biggest drops were in Italy, where revenue dropped 18%, and Germany, which dropped 13%. The company does not break out e-commerce or mobile revenue by country outside the U.S.
  • Net income jumped 35% to $203.0 million from $150.0 million a year earlier. Net income in Q3 2014 included Liberty Interactive Corp.’s Digital Commerce unit, which experienced a loss in that quarter. Now that this unit is separate from QVC Group, net income increased for the QVC unit year over year.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, U.S. e-commerce revenue for QVC Group was $1.97 billion, based on Q3 numbers released Wednesday and previously released company figures. By the same calculation and term, global web sales for QVC were $2.52 billion.

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