Qurate Retail Group has restructured its organization and launched a new business unit focused on livestreaming as it looks to “accelerate its leadership in video commerce.”
The new structure is designed to strengthen differentiation between QVC and HSN by giving each brand’s team direct control over its own merchandising, planning and programming, brand marketing, broadcast and ecommerce operations. In fiscal 2021, QVC U.S. represented approximately three-quarters of the QxH (representing the businesses of QVC and HSN only) business unit’s $8.3 billion in revenue, and HSN made up the other one-quarter.
“This new operating structure will help us better leverage the core strengths of each brand, most notably the large, engaged and highly loyal customer base at each brand,” said David Rawlinson II, President and CEO of Qurate Retail Group in a statement. “We built both QVC and HSN on the power of live vCommerce experiences, storytelling and curation, which demand highly specific capabilities that other players in retail, ecommerce and media are just starting to develop. That said, we need to move at speed to stay competitive and relevant in this highly dynamic time for retail. Giving each brand more autonomy allows each team to stay on the pulse of its discrete customer base and better anticipate how to evolve to serve them.”
In addition to creating separate operating models for QVC U.S. and HSN, Qurate also has created a new business unit designed to accelerate the company’s streaming and live video commerce initiatives, led by 20-year Qurate veteran Mary Campbell in the role of President.
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Campbell and her team are tasked with growing digital revenues separate from QVC’s and HSN’s traditional multi-platform experiences. This new business unit will include key elements of the “advantaged vCommerce ecosystem” that QVC and HSN have built across newer digital platforms and devices, including QVC and HSN’s interactive streaming shopping app on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV and a number of other streaming platforms. The app — which offers six linear channels, video-on-demand and original programming designed for streaming — has been downloaded more than 7 million times on Roku alone.
The new business unit also will house all other innovation efforts around livestreaming services and new platforms, along with dedicated marketing, business development, customer experience and merchandising resources to accelerate Qurate’s growth in the digital livestreaming shopping space.
Campbell previously served as Chief Content, Digital and Platforms Officer for QVC U.S. and HSN and has held a variety of leadership roles across merchandising and new media over the course of her career with the company, including Chief Merchandising Officer of Qurate Retail Group and Chief Commerce Officer of QVC U.S.
In addition to Campbell’s appointment, Qurate has made the following leadership shifts to support the company’s structural changes:
- Mike Fitzharris has been named President of QVC U.S. Fitzharris most recently served as Chief Commercial Officer for QVC U.S. and HSN. Over the last 10 years he has served in a variety of senior leadership roles at QVC International and HSN including CEO, Representative Director and Chairman of QVC Japan, QVC, Inc.’s largest international market, and President of HSN where he led the brand’s integration into Qurate Retail.
- Rob Muller has been named President of HSN. Muller previously served as SVP of Global Strategy and Business Development for QVC and HSN. Throughout his 20-year career with Qurate, Muller has served in a variety of senior leadership roles, including SVP and Market Leader for QVC UK.
- Qurate has launched a search for a Chief Operating Officer. This new role will lead U.S. fulfillment center operations, supply chain, customer support, global business services, procurement and corporate real estate and workplace services.
- Qurate Retail Group also has added a Chief of Staff role to Rawlinson’s leadership team to optimize business processes and take ownership of nascent strategy and business development functions. Krystyna Taheri has been appointed to this position, joining the company from Google.
“QVC and HSN are storied brands and are in positions of strength to lead the evolution and proliferation of vCommerce in the U.S.,” said Rawlinson. “This change places our best leaders in positions to execute and accelerate our turnaround efforts.”
