Dive Brief:
- Following a shift in executive leadership, HSN has launched its YouTube TV channel, the livestream shopping network announced on Thursday.
- HSN’s new channel features live video commerce - which it calls vCommerce - and joins QVC as the only two retailers on YouTube TV, according to the press release.
- The 45-year-old shopping network is known for selling products across categories such as health, beauty, jewelry, home, fashion, and electronics.
Dive Insight:
HSN said the company’s YouTube TV launch is part of its video commerce expansion across various digital and new media platforms.
“HSN brings its unique, engaging live video shopping experience to YouTube TV, one of the leading live TV streaming platforms,” David Apostolico, senior vice president of platform strategy, development and distribution vCommerce Ventures at Qurate Retail Group, said in a statement. “We’re excited to welcome new customers to HSN via YouTube TV, while providing our existing customers with another convenient way to access their favorite HSN programming.”
But as HSN tries to broaden its reach, its parent company Qurate Retail Group has shaken up its leadership amid concerns about how the company will perform during amid economic uncertainty. The company hired Soumya Sriraman last week, formerly head of Prime Video Channels at Amazon, as its new president of Streaming, and it appointed Stacy Bowe, formerly of Macy’s, to become chief merchandising officer at QVC U.S. However, S&P Global Ratings downgraded the company’s corporate rating to B+ this month, citing potential supply chain issues and a decline in discretionary spending that could disrupt its business.
Meanwhile, more retailers, including Macy’s, Walmart and Saks, have experimented with livestream shopping over the past year as the market is expected to rise. A 2021 Coresight report predicted that the livestream shopping market would reach $25 billion by next year. For retailers and brands jumping into the space, livestream shopping can be a tool for showcasing products and entertaining potential customers, experts told Retail Dive.
Despite the predicted growth of the livestream market, not every company has succeeded with the strategy. Last month, Meta said it removed the livestream shopping feature on Facebook, citing a consumers’ demand for short-form videos.
