‘Social scrolling is the new channel surfing’: Behind QVC’s TikTok strategy

“The fastest-growing consumer base [for QVC Group] is already happening on TikTok,” Alex Wellen, president and chief growth office of QVC Group, said in a session last week at the VaynerX Live Shopping Summit in New York City. “I predict it will overtake any channel we’re working in, at least in the short term.”

Betting more on TikTok could prove helpful for QVC Group, which is seeing a decline in linear TV viewership. In August, the company reported that its revenue for the second quarter decreased 7% year over year. Still, even as it leans into TikTok, QVC Group — which also oversees HSN — isn’t abandoning its other platforms. As QVC Group’s vp of brand, Annette Dunleavy, told Glossy earlier this year, the company is continuing to invest in TV programming, streaming and digital to reach its audience via multiple channels.

QVC has long been a pioneer in the live-shopping space, having debuted its first home-shopping shows in the 1980s. But the company — which stands for “Quality Value Convenience” — has also found a home on social media, including Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest. When QVC launched on TikTok Shop in August 2024, its audience was already on the platform, Wellen said. “They were like, ‘Where were you? Thanks for coming. We were waiting for you,'” he said.

QVC Group has been the subject of 35 million livestream sessions on TikTok in less than a year, Wellen said. Creators can appear on QVC’s channels, or they can promote whatever stands out to them in their own TikTok videos. “You could pick a product you love, talk about it from the heart and make a fortune,” Wellen said. Today, QVC Group has some 75,000 products on the platform that affiliates can sell and tag.

QVC Group also has a loyalty program for affiliates on TikTok, which it has formed by looking at “the top five, 10, 50, 100” sellers on the platform, Wellen said. “We reward you with better commissions, with awards, with access to certain products,” he shared. “If you’re a creator and you work with QVC, we want it to be worth your time.”

Because of TikTok’s popularity with young people, the platform is sometimes referred to as “QVC for Gen Z.” But, on TikTok, QVC Group is resonating with consumers across age groups. Women ages 45 and older are “definitely” engaging with QVC on TikTok and other social media, Wellen said. “I think we’re being foolish if we think they’re not buying at a significant rate on these different platforms,” he added.

In fact, in May, QVC participated in TikTok’s Super Brand Day, combining it with its own Age of Possibility event, a campaign around celebrating women over 50 years old. A group QVC dubbed “Q50 ambassadors” — including Hoda Kotb and Billie Jean King — joined dozens of QVC’s top affiliate creators for a day-long live-shopping event on QVC’s TikTok livestream. Viewers could also buy deals available exclusively on QVC’s TikTok Shop account. “The event was our highest-viewed and most-engaged QVC-hosted livestream,” QVC Group CEO David Rawlinson said on an earnings call in August.

One of the reasons why Wellen thinks QVC has resonated on TikTok is because users tune in to watch TikTok creators talk about products — something that is already QVC’s bread and butter. “We know that it’s important to be able to trust a brand,” Wellen said. “It is important to be entertaining and fun and connect with someone on a human scale. With social, we can do that. People can comment. People can ask questions.”

He added that “social scrolling is the new channel surfing.”

“You’re looking at [something] online, and you’re saying to yourself, ‘What’s going to make my thumb stop?'” Wellen asked. “The thing that really gets me to stop is a person that I can connect to. That’s why [live shopping via social media] has worked in China, and I think that’s why we’re seeing a pickup here [in the U.S.].”