Italians Want Their QVC, Austerity Be Damned

Italy is in crisis, with surging unemployment, political upheaval, and declining consumer spending. Yet all of that is non importa for QVC, the home shopping network owned by Liberty Interactive. Two years after QVC entered the country, Italians have become the channel’s best customers. On average, QVC’s tele-shoppers in Italy spend $1,900 a year, about 58 percent more than the channel’s sales average. At 44 purchases a year, they’re buying about twice as often as QVC shoppers elsewhere.

Italians have taken to QVC with gusto because customer service at stores is often lacking and e-commerce is less developed than in other industrialized nations, QVC Chief Executive Officer Mike George says. “We recognize there are short-term challenges that are very severe,” he says. “But we also see it as an opportunity. It is a time when other retailers are avoiding the market.”