QVC: Welcome to our online chat with QVC President and CEO, Mike George. This is your chance to find out about the person who leads the team responsible for making QVC your favorite place to shop. The chat will begin shortly, so start sending your questions now. Then sit back and enjoy a fun and informative hour with Mike.

Mike George: On December 1, 2006, I held my first-ever Live Chat on QVC.com with our customers. The hour flew by so fast, and even though I was able to answer 36 questions from some enthusiastic shoppers, I was anxious to answer even more. That's why I am excited about the opportunity to do a second Live Chat with you today.

If you missed my first Live Chat or you're a second-time participant, I invite you to join me now and ask me about what's on your mind as a QVC customer.

Sherry: Hello Mr. George. First, let me say that I love QVC people and products. I want to know if you will be using the return method of using a prepaid label such as other on line companies?
Mike George: Thanks, Sherry. We do plan to implement return labels. A number of customers have requested that, so we're excited that over the next several weeks we'll be rolling out a new program to provide return labels to our customers. We think this will make the return process simpler and faster for our customers.

Updated, September 26, 2007:
What is a pre-paid return label?
A pre-paid return label provides all the information you need to return a purchase to QVC without having to visit a Post Office or Mailing Center. And creating and printing a pre-paid return label is easier than ever — you can do it right through QVC.com! Just click on Order Status and in three simple steps, you'll have your return label. Here's what you do:

1. Fill out the online return form. Be sure to specify why you're returning the product, and if it's an exchange or refund.
2. Next, you'll see the amount that will automatically be deducted from your refund.
3. Print your return label.

And don't worry - if you happen to misplace your label, you can print another one!

Milo: Upon reviewing some of the customers' reviews, some jewelry items have quality control problems. What can be done about this?
Mike George: We put a lot of effort into our quality control standards, it's something we really pride ourselves on. We have a rigorous program of inspecting our products at the factory and also once they've arrived at our distribution centers. Whenever we have a problem with our product quality we try to address it immediately in terms of standing by that product with our customer, and addressing whatever the original problems were.
I pay a lot of attention personally to the reviews we get for our products online and on our community boards, and use that information to continue to push ourselves to ever higher levels of quality. As you know, we always stand behind our 30 day return policy. Certainly, if you're ever dissatisfied with product quality please let us know so that we can address it going forward.

Milo: (1) What is the most challenging aspect of your job? (2) How do you determine schedules for the hosts? I had difficulty sending them emails also.
Mike George: The most challenging part of the job is trying to make sure that we never let our customers down. We have about 150 products we put on air every day, and over the course of the year we serve about 7 or 8 million customers here in the US. So, as you can imagine, the number of new products that we inspect, the number of phone calls that we take, and the number of products that we ship out every year means that we have to always be on top of our game and strive to be performing at 100 percent.

The second most challenging part of my job is determining the host schedules. There's no magic formula here. We pay attention to what products the hosts enjoy selling. We pay attention to trying to make sure our hosts have a balanced work schedule. We want to make sure that the hosts have an appropriate amount of time off-air to balance the time they spend on-air. For every show that a host leads, they spend about 4 to 5 hours in advance of that show preparing, learning more about the product and the guest. So, it's important that we always rotate hosts and give them enough time to prepare thoroughly for each show.

Anne's Desk: Would you please show on screen or have the host state where a product is made?
Mike George: Thanks Anne, I'll definitely look at that. We try to show country of origin on the screen as well as at QVC.com. So we should be doing that on a consistent basis, but I'll follow up to make sure that's happening.

Moxiebell: Why can't the postage be reduced for multiple orders, like a shopping cart, perhaps?
Mike George: Today if you buy multiple quantities of the same item, we do reduce postage. At this point, we're not able to reduce postage for different items because items come from multiple distribution centers across the country. For example, a jewelry item might come from our distribution center here in Pennsylvania, while a home item might ship out of our distribution center in North Carolina.

We do work hard to keep our total shipping costs as low as we can. We do not pass along to the customer the full cost of shipping and handling. We have also kept our increases in shipping rates below the increases that come from our carriers. We recognize that shipping is an important part of the cost for our customers and will continue to work hard on ways to keep those costs as manageable as possible.

shopper917: Another question I would have is if you're considering a show dedicated to cruelty-free items? Many of your retailers are cruelty-free and I'm sure they'd love to have a showcase for that.
Mike George: Thank you for the suggestion. I don't believe we have a program like that in the works, but I'll pass along that idea to our team.

Eve: How many different products are presented in 24 hours? And who decides what should be presented?
Mike George: On a typical day, we show about 150 distinct items. Our planning department is responsible for determining the specific items to be aired within a day. We try to maintain as much diversity of both programs and products as possible over the course of the day. We've heard from you over the years that you like to see a broad variety of products represented. And so we're constantly striving to make sure that we have the diversity that you're looking for.

Joanne: Can a permanent 2 hour evening spot, such as 5-7 pm, during the week be for food only? QVC has the best food supply and it would help all of the U.S. if it were on a permanent schedule.
Mike George: Joanne, thanks for your suggestion. And I'll take that one back to review as well. We find that when we do a show in a dedicated time slow like our In the Kitchen with Bob show on Sunday it does help the customer know when to tune in. We've looked at doing a similar dedicated spot for food in the past. We need to balance the benefit of a dedicated spot with the benefit of having the kind of programming variety I was just talking about. So, for us it's a matter of balancing variety with more predictable tune-in times, and we'll continue to experiment to find the right balance.

Beth: What's your favorite item on QVC?
Mike George: Beth, that's like asking me to choose my favorite child. I love them all. But if I really had to choose, it would have to be Nathan's Pretzel Dogs.

the one and only me: Is there any way that you can do something to keep our orders from staying in process for up to a week at a time. I expect faster shipping than this.
Mike George: Our service goal is to ship all orders within 48 hours of the time the order is received. Today, we achieve that goal over 95 percent of the time. We'll keep striving to make it 100 percent. It is clearly not acceptable if we don't process your order for a week, and please let us know whenever you're having that kind of problem. Now, in addition, depending on where in the country you live, it can take a matter of a few days to ship the product from the warehouse to your home.

Debbie: Why does QVC not implement 6 easy pays for big ticket items like computers or televisions?
Mike George: We recently began using 6 easy pays on a few key items, including a Dell computer TSV and a big screen TV. We recognize this is a real benefit for our customers and while we feel we can only use it selectively, we will continue to make it available on some big ticket items.

Mary Colette: I would love to see QVC offer a tiered discount program to loyal customers. It would be much like the department stores and chain stores offer where a check is attached to your monthly bill . The dollar amount would be based on your total sales within a specified time period. Any chance of QVC offering a program like this in the near future, esp. since the holidays are right around the corner. Thanks for your consideration.
Mike George: Thanks! Our approach in the past has always been to try to keep the price as low as possible. We've stayed away from loyalty tiered discount programs because what usually happens is the folks that don't participate in the program end up paying a higher price because usually the retailer funds the cost of the program by raising the price of their product. I don't want to say that we will never do that type of program since we're always listening to the feedback and adjusting our offerings as a result, but our preference is to keep the marketing simple and keep the up front price as low as possible.

Grey Walker: Is our information secure when entered on QVC.com and the bulletin board?
Mike George: Yes, we pride ourselves on providing a very secure environment, both online and on the phone. So, you can shop and communicate with QVC with confidence.

Cheryl K: First, I LOVE QVC shopping! But, with shipping charges increasing as they have, I would love to be able to order all day, and then have one transaction at the end of the day, or even the next day, with one total and one shipping price. Is that possible?
Mike George: Thanks for your comments, Cheryl. At this point it's not possible to offer one shipping charge for the day, primarily because of the reason I mentioned earlier. Our products come from multiple warehouses, so we're not easily able to consolidate your order and ship it all together. The reason we use multiple warehouses is that we believe in total this creates a more efficient operation and minimizes total shipping costs over time.

Irma: I used to be able to change auto-delivery online and that option no longer exists. Some items just arrive too soon for a single person. Thanks!
Mike George: We are working to improve the auto-delivery features online. I received feedback on that on my earlier chat and committed to launching enhanced auto-delivery features online this fall. So, in the next several weeks, you will be able to go online and change your order in the same way you currently do on the phone. Over the next several months, we will launch additional customization features online.

Grey Walker: Does QVC plan on targeting men in the future? I'm a guy myself and would love to see some guy-oriented shows.
Mike George: We appreciate your business and we're always looking for programs that appeal to the male customer. If you love football, we're very excited to be launching a new program in conjunction with the NFL that premieres in September. Every week, either Sunday morning before the game or Monday evening before Monday Night Football we'll be providing a great NFL program with a variety of merchandise and appearances from a number of NFL stars.

I also encourage you to look online for men's products. For example, we have a great watch product line and several apparel lines as well. As these products do well online then we'll look for opportunities to turn these into TV programs. And of course, we have a broad range of products from food to consumer electronics that appeal to both our men and women customers.

shop QVC online: Have the ratings been helpful to your QA department and product developers? They help me.
Mike George: Thanks for the comment, I'm glad you find the ratings helpful. The ratings are a result of the feedback many customers provided us over the last couple of years, including comments on our last live chat. We find them very helpful. Every day we work to identify products that have lower ratings, and assess the reason.

Occasionally, we do find a quality program that we somehow missed in the original inspection, and of course we immediately address it. Occasionally, we also find that the ratings reflect the fact that we may not have provided a full, clear explanation of the product and its uses on the air. So, we go back and re-examine how we sold the product and identify ways to provide better information on-air and online so the customer isn't disappointed.

Barbara: Does QVC only present products that are from "famous" people, or food products? I sent you this question just before 10:00: My friend went to a seminar and was told she had 5 minutes with QVC and when she got there QVC told her they were not interested in her because she is not famous.
Mike George: On behalf of QVC, let me personally apologize to your friend. That should never happen. One of the things I love about QVC is that we have brought onto air so many wonderful, creative entrepreneurs with small businesses. Many of those businesses are now sizeable companies because together we decided to take a chance on a great product. So, you definitely do not need to be famous to be on QVC, you just need to have a great product.

Dee: I've been a member for a long time. It seems that the quality of the products has suffered a bit over time. I find I'm returning more items than I used to due to their quality. Why is this?
Mike George: Dee, I appreciate your loyalty to QVC over the years, and I'm very sorry to hear of the growing quality problems you are experiencing. I would really appreciate it if you could send me a letter summarizing some of the products you've been disappointed with, so that I can personally investigate your experience.

We've actually worked hard to increase the level of quality protection inspections we do. And over the last several years, our return rates have fallen by several points, which I believe is a reflection of improving product quality. However, when we ship 160 million packages every year, we make mistakes and it's our responsibility to find those mistakes and fix them. So we don't let customers like you down.

Jackie529: I was wondering if you could start a wish list on your website instead of just the save list, because things are automatically deleted after so many days. It would also be nice to be able to e-mail the wish list to friends and family for gift ideas.
Mike George: Thanks, Jackie. This request also came up on my last live chat and so we've worked hard to develop a wish list program and we will be launching it in the next month or so.

ritupm: Hi! Am a long time customer of QVC from the Bay Area, CA, and would love to move to PA to be a show host on QVC now. Any suggestions? :)
Mike George: We're always looking for new program hosts, so if you're interested please send me a letter and I'll make sure we get it to our TV broadcast team.

Shari: I loved the 50 in 50 tour, which was what initially got me started shopping with QVC. I'd love to see it again, and I bet many other viewers would agree.
Mike George: Thanks for the suggestion. The 50 in 50 tour, which we conducted in 1995, was a real turning point for our company because it exposed so many people to QVC. And some of our best vendors today were discovered on the 50 in 50 tour. In 2005, we did a smaller 10 state version of the tour. And since then we've focused on doing product trials in different markets around the country.

For example, in conjunction with Oprah Winfrey, we traveled to three different cities this past spring and tried out thousands of new vendors with innovative ideas. We've been doing the same thing with an organization called Make Mine A Million, which is focused on helping women entrepreneurs develop million dollar businesses. So, in short, we're always trying to find opportunities to get to different markets and meet both customers and vendors. I don't know whether we will conduct another 50 in 50 tour, but a number of customers have requested it and so we'll continue to look at it.

Lisa: A compliment for the team. I think your hosts are the most personable, and friendly. I like their interaction with the models. We all get to know everyone and it increases the shopping experience
Mike George: Thanks, Lisa, for the comment. We're very proud of all of our hosts. They are good people with a real interest and relationship to our customers. And they're probably just about the hardest working people you'll ever encounter. I'm glad you appreciate what they do.

Merle: I think shopping on QVC is the best. I have shopped for a long time and am looking for products that QVC currently is not presenting. Do you plan on having a forum for shoppers to suggest products they would like QVC to present? Thank you
Mike George: Merle, I think that's a great suggestion. Let me take that back to the team and see if we can create a way to get that feedback more systematically. We do have a suggestion box in the community forums and we've received a number of good ideas from the community forums. So, if you're not already using that, I would encourage you to do so.

Sandy: Could we have fewer hours devoted to retailers who purchase an hour-block of time and spend the whole hour on one item?
Mike George: First, let me clarify that our air time is not for sale, so no retailer is able to purchase time on QVC. Rather, we make the decisions on how much time a program gets based on our experience with how much information the customer needs to make the purchase decision. For example, with some of the bigger ticket items that are more complicated, like a Dell computer or the Sleep Number bed that we aired yesterday, we may devote a full hour to make sure the customer can get enough information.

I mentioned earlier in this chat that we work hard to maintain program diversity. So, we try not to run too many of these one-product programs, and keep a balanced rotation of more diverse programming for most of the day.

Lisa: Mike, I know you do a lot for Christmas, how about the Hanukah celebration? We spend a lot of money for the holiday also.
Mike George: Thanks for your question. A number of customers have asked us to try to provide more diverse products for different faiths. I can't tell you that I'm satisfied with how we do this today. When we have run Hanukah programming in the past, for example, we've had a limited response. That means we need to do a better job of providing great product. We're also trying to do more online in addition to on-air. So, we'll keep working to do this better, but I do encourage you to check out our online offerings in addition to our on-air programming.

Additional comment, September 11, 2007: I looked into the topic further, and wanted to pass along that you should look for new Judaica product coming for the holidays and into Spring 2008. We will also be creating a Judaica Gifts promotion on QVC.com that will be located in our Gift Center.

Mary: It would be wonderful if you would make available chats with vendors or a way to ask questions and have them answer on line. Many of us would like to chat with Robert Lee Morris and other jewelry designers.
Mike George: Thanks for the suggestion. We are planning to do a number of vendor blogs in the future. In fact, Robert Lee Morris will be launching his own blog on QVC.com in the next few weeks. In addition to these blogs, which is a new feature for QVC, we also from time to time ask our vendors to do live chats like the one I'm conducting. So, please let us know what vendors you are most interested in talking with and we'll make sure we provide either a blog or a live chat.

Mary: I know you are receiving more questions than you can answer in this little window of opportunity. Would you please continue to answer our questions in an area on the forum so we will see answers to our pressing concerns? Thank you!
Mike George: Thanks! If it would be useful to conduct a blog from time to time and answer questions, we can certainly look at that. So, let me take your suggestion back and we'll come up with a way for me to answer questions on a more ongoing basis if that's helpful.

shopper917: What percentage of products that are auditioned to be on QVC actually make the air?
Mike George: It's a very small percent. I couldn't give you an exact number, but we reject many, many more products than we accept. We have to be convinced the product is innovative and meets our quality and value standards.

BJR: Since you have changes your website it takes much longer to load, it doesn't matter whether it is dial-up or broadband or what computer, can this be looked into?
Mike George: Thanks for your input and I will follow up on that. We monitor loading time for folks with both broadband and dial-up connections every day and we've actually seen the load times improve. It is a constant challenge, because our customers like more features such as videos online that can slow the loading time. So, we try to design each page in such a way that it will load quickly even with a dial-up connection. As I've mentioned, we have generally seen improving load times, but I will take your concerns back to the online team and make sure we're focused on that.

Daphne bee: I wasn't here for what you said earlier. Can I read all your answers somewhere after this chat?
Mike George: The entire transcript of the chat will be posted online.

Dorothy: What kind of training is involved in becoming a host, and what quality do you feel is most important to have?
Mike George: The most important quality to have is a natural ability to connect with our customers. And, of course, a love for shopping. You have to be genuinely interested in the products we sell, the guests we have on air, and, of course, our customers and how they will use these products to get the most benefit out of them. You simply cannot fake that kind of genuine interest and respect in a live broadcast.

The training is very extensive. We're not necessarily looking for folks who have significant professional entertainment experience. Rather, we want great personalities who meet these other criteria I described. And then we spend about 6 months training the person before they ever get much air-time. Our hosts really work together like a family and I think that comes through on air. So, the experienced hosts are critical to the training of the new hosts. For example, Mary Beth, who has been with us for 20 years, is the mentor for Sandra Bennett who just joined us last year. We look to our experienced hosts to help coach and guide the new hosts.

QVC: We're almost out of time for today's chat. Do you have anything you'd like to add before we have to close?
Mike George: Thank you very much for your questions today. We have already implemented a number of the suggestions that you shared with me on our last chat. And I take away from today's session several new ideas as well as a few concerns that I will also follow up on. Thanks for your time today, and your support of QVC.

QVC: Thank you for your participation. We hope you've enjoyed this LIVE chat with Mike George.

Bonus-These are additional questions that Mike George answered after the time of the chat expired. 

Sandy:  It seems as if you are trying to hit a "price point" with your products---i.e., trying to appeal with a certain price to the largest demographic.  Why not have something for everyone, even people who want high-end, i.e., expensive, shoes, purses, jewelry, clothing, etc?  I've read on the BB's postings from people who don't like to see expensive things aired they can't afford, conversely, I don't like seeing inexpensive things. 

Mike George:  Sandy, we try to live by a simple philosophy - let the  customer decide.  We try not to let our personal tastes or preconceptions about what our customers might want drive our decisions.  Rather, we aim to put on air a broad variety of products -- across all price points, styles, categories etc.  And then, after each product sell, we make a decision as to whether or not to bring back that product based on the customer response -- and not just the number of customers either.  Rather, we view our 'sales per minute' as the great equalizer - 10 people ordering a $1000 item in a minute, 100 people ordering a $100 item, or 1000 people ordering a $10 item -- its all the same to us -- as long as we offer variety and don't exclude any customer.  I'm always amazed at the broad range of price points that we offer at QVC -- just look at some recent very successful TSVs -- a $20 kitchen gadget, an $850 gold chain, and a $2000 sleep number bed.  And you're right, some folks criticize us for selling too many inexpensive items, and some folks criticize us for the reverse. Our goal will be to continue offering a wide variety and let the customers decide.  Candidly, sometimes we get a little conservative and are hesitant to step up to higher price point items - we have to watch this, and make sure we stick to our values of testing a wide variety of merchandise.  In fashion, we're working to add another layer of great value, higher price point, on trend product to our apparel and accessories assortments.  Our customer has told us she'll go there if the product is right.

Mary: California has a huge viewing audience and we do not have a direct connection with purchasing QVC products in an outlet store! 

Mike George: Mary, thanks for the comment.  We only have 5 outlet stores and we aren't adding more at this point, because we don't have enough returned or excess merchandise to fill more stores.  Should we need to add more stores in the future, we will certainly consider California and other major markets we're not in.

Shannon: i would like to see on the web page a schedule of when our favorite host will be on

Mike George:  Shannon,  thanks for the idea.  I'll look in to this - but I think it may be difficult to ensure accuracy because host schedules can be somewhat fluid.  They tend to change more frequently than the program schedule.

Audrey: I would like to know why there is not more easy pay items and that the easy pay lasts longer then just the show or the day. Other shopping networks have it on all the time and this is very helpful when deciding on a product. Seems as big as QVC is you could offer more foe longer periods of time, especially the way the economy is.

Mike George:  We know our customers love Easy Pay, and we have increased the use somewhat this year.  However, we try hard to avoid the department store trap of having everything on sale all the time, which means you can never trust the regular price.  So we try to set fair regular prices, and, unlike a traditional store, our prices rarely go down after the initial airing -  rather we try to start with our very best price.  This helps our customers shop with confidence -- without having to worry about whether they should wait and see if it gets marked down later.  I know Easy Pay isn't the same as a sale, but there is a cost to EZ Pay, just like there is for a price discount or free shipping, and if we used it much more frequently, we would have to raise prices elsewhere to cover the cost.  We're proud of the fact that our first price is usually our best price, that we don't charge excessive shipping costs on some items so that we can give it away on others, and, for the same reason, we try not to overuse EZ Pay, but to use it where we think our customers will get the most benefit from it.  That's probably not what you want to hear, but we feel this balanced approach results in the best overall deal for our customers.

Terry: There are products that I no longer see in QVC and would love for you to bring them back, would you take suggestions of items for (us viewers) to be able to let you know that we would love to see them again?

Mike George:  Yes, I love to get suggestions from our long time customers.  You can send me a note, or share your thoughts on the suggestions board in the Community Forum on QVC.com.  We review these suggestions regularly.

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