The roads are icy. Snow’s expected. What are intrepid shoppers to do?
Park ourselves in front of the television, clutch the remote and . . . go shopping, of course.
Yearning for a retail fix, I checked my local cable guide and discovered that a dozen shopping channels beckoned.
Lousy weather was keeping me housebound, but that’s just the kind of hardship scenario that separates the shopping pro from the dabbling amateur. On with the shows!
Of course, I knew about the phenomenon of shopping channels. I just hadn’t spent any time watching them. That’s because I like to hit the street. I’m a huge believer in hands-on buying. Touching. Trying on. Which is why I use the Internet only when it’s a boring buy–electronics, books, music–or I can’t find it anywhere else.
But after a few hours of watching the major TV shopping channels, mostly QVC and HSN, I can see why they’re such a huge success.
I became oddly mesmerized by the friendly “hosts” and their engaging “guests,” many of them designers I’d never heard of.
Thanks to a very effective sales pitch by two QVC personalities, I started fixating on the lint that is lurking in my clothes dryer and the miracle tool that could get rid of it by merely attaching to my vacuum. A problem (that I didn’t know I had) solved for a mere $19.93–plus $4.47 shipping and handling.
This could be dangerous.
I have one friend who had to confiscate her grandma’s Visa card. The house was filling up with giant boxes from TV retailers. (But here’s betting that granny doesn’t have lint building up in her dryer anymore.)
My dearest friend from high school, a woman with a master’s degree who once worked on Wall Street, is such a devoted television shopper that when I called her up to talk about it the first thing out of her mouth was, “QVC is having an all-day silver show with [designer] Robert Lee Morris and they’ve got the coolest double blade of grass earrings for $63.”
What?
This is an educated woman who lives in a big city. She can shop when and where she pleases. What is she doing watching shopping TV?
She’s browsing.
“The large majority of our customers are sort of window shopping while they’re doing other activities,” said Doug Rose, the vice president of merchandising brand development at the Westchester, Pa.-based QVC (qvc.com), the largest television retailer.
“It’s not that people come to us because they don’t have any other options. For them, shopping is fun. They’re good at it and they have a strong sense of confidence in their judgment,” Rose said.
He said his 20-year-old cable channel attracts 1.5 million watchers an hour and had $7 billion in revenues last year. Home Shopping Network (hsn.com), the first TV channel devoted entirely to shopping when it launched 30 years ago, had $3.05 billion in sales in 2005, the most recent year available. The No. 2 TV retailer is based in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Although my cable guide told me I had 12 shopping channels, only three had much to offer: QVC, HSN and the smaller ShopNBC (shopnbc.com).
After flipping around those three channels over a couple of days, I saw an awful lot of jewelry, a ton of dolls being hawked by Marie Osmond (including one $149 Donny Osmond doll that was positively creepy) and gizmos and furnishings galore.
A few items were tempting but not enough to make me grab the phone and order. And all that blah blah about the most banal aspects of some of this stuff was mind numbing. I was happy to turn it off.
Some of the things I saw during my shop TV marathon were exclusive, only sold on TV or on the Web site. While none of the items was a steal, many were well-priced–as they should be, considering how these giant operations can buy in bulk.
I was impressed with the ShopNBC $179.99 15-piece bedding set that included five decorative pillows, a comforter and just about everything but the bed. And I was tempted by some silver dangly cultured pearl earrings designed by Michael Dawkins with a touch of real gold for $88.50 on QVC.
Price and exclusivity are two reasons to consider shopping on television. You also will find fashions offered in the full range of sizes from extra-small to 3X–all at the same price.
It has always infuriated me that stores charge extra for larger sizes, so if that’s a peeve of yours, make yourself a cup of tea, take a seat and start shopping.
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Who are television shoppers?
– Overwhelmingly female (85 percent)
– Mostly 40 to 60 years old
– Affluent
– Suburban
– Repeat customers (95 percent)
– Love to shop stores, Internet, catalogs too
Source: QVC
TV shopping tips:
– Factor in sometimes hefty “shipping and handling” fees.
– Think it through: Is assembly required?
– Check the program guide to find shows with items of interest.
– Comparison shop: Can you get it cheaper in stores or online?
– The hosts are not your friends; they are sales personnel.
– If they’re “selling out,” they’ll eventually get more.
– The generous return policy still means you pay shipping.
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shopellen@tribune.com
Find more deals and our sales calendar, at chicagotribune.com/shopping
