QVC Network
From Your Southern California
Distribution and Logistics Center
River Plate Fulfillment and Trucking

QVC Network...

River Plate Fulfillment is bringing you this series of pages on QVC and HSN (Home Shopping Network) because many of our customers sell products and buy products wholesale. QVC and HSN are giants in the selling and buying world, and there can be much to be learned from these leaders.

The services we provide (Pick and Pack in Southern California, Nationwide Trucking, and fulfillment in California...to name a few) could not be without the loyalty and trust that our clients' relationship is built upon. Our goal is 100% satisfaction on the work and service we provide to all of our customers.

QVC Network / The History

QVC Network was established in July 1986 by Joseph M. Segel. Segel was the founder of the Franklin Mint Corporation, and was also recognized as a mail-order marketer of commemorative coins.

QVC began spreading in November of 1986, and the programs went on the air fulltime in January 1987, transmitting from the company's unassuming headquarters in a West Chester, Pennsylvania. By January 31, 1988, the end of the first full fiscal year, the company had reached $112.3 million in sales.

QVC Network spent the next several years strengthening its position in TV shopping through acquisitions. In late 1989, it bought out The Fashion Channel, followed by the 1990 purchase of competitor CVN and, in May of the following year, they took possession of the J.C. Penney Shopping Channel. In this climate, the television shopping field narrowed from 20 companies in 1987 to just 2 major players by late 1992: QVC and the Home Shopping Network.

QVC Inc. is the nation's largest electronic retailer, selling a wide variety of merchandise that includes clothing, jewelry, cosmetics, electronics, housewares, and toys. QVC Network sells its products through cable and satellite television, QVC.com, in outlet stores, and via a retail store in the Mall of America. In 2003, the company broadcasted live 24 hours a day, 364 days a year, to over 85 million homes across the United States, 11 million homes in the United Kingdom, 34 million homes in Germany, and over 8 million homes in Japan.

QVC, which stands for 'Quality, Value, and Convenience,' grew quickly into an industry powerhouse during the late 1980s and early 1990s due an increase in cable subscription rates, consumers' growing dependence on mail-order shopping, and advances in telecommunications. QVC saw the opportunity and took an interactive approach, integrating computers, television, cable, and telephone lines developing an 'information superhighway.' In 2002, QVC handled over 150 million phone calls and shipped over 107 million items.

The QVC Difference is the set of values woven into the fabric of our culture, defining the attitude and conviction that unites everyone at the QVC Network. According to a QVC spokesperson, "These principles empower our employees with the initiative to develop new ideas and the accountability to see them through. More than a collection of ideals, The QVC Difference serves as a reminder of what made us so successful in the past and acts as a guidepost for the future. These values are customer focus, teamwork, pioneering spirit, commitment to excellence, respect and concern for each other, ethics and integrity, openness and trust, and having fun along the way."

QVC Network / The Timeline

1986: Joseph M. Segel establishes the QVC Network.
1993: Segel retires and Barry Diller is named chairman and CEO; the firm battles for control of Paramount Communications Inc.
1995: Comcast Corporation and Tele-Communications Inc. acquire QVC.
2000: The company launches its retail concept, QVC@THE MALL.
2003: Comcast sets plans in motion to sell QVC to Liberty Media Corporation.