* * *
When will that happen? Don't hold your breath. If you believe the hype, everything will be up and running and available universally by next Wednesday afternoon. More likely, interactivity - as we imagine it now - won't be along for the better part of the decade. But really, that's the wrong question. A better one would be, "At what rate will the technology continue to grow?" Psychiatrist Russ Ferstandig of Competitive Advantage Consulting explains:
"The future comes every minute. Because this is an amorphous thing, we tend to reduce it to a single concept. It's not. It's happening all the time. And we're in it."
* * *
Like Quay Hays before them, Ron and Mabel Howe of Eugene, Oreg., have come to QVC's headquarters in suburban Philadelphia, where TV selling's potentially limitless future meets the rather more prosaic here and now. Unlike Hays, they are here on open vendor day, in a windowless room crammed with cardboard boxes and empty dress racks. They sit side by side, facing Marthanne Summers, a QVC buyer, across a rectangular table. They are hopeful. Ron has removed his samples and laid them out on the table.
The Howes didn't fly all the way from Eugene just for this. They had stopped at a trade show in Chicago on the way and were planning to exhibit at another one here in Philadelphia starting in two days. But trade shows are business as usual for the owners of Beautiful Wood Products, a $500,000 manufacturer of mirrors, jewelry boxes, wine caddies, and assorted gift items. And lately business has not been so good.
"The first six months are terrible," Ron had confessed while waiting to see Summers. "We need to find a market for our products that isn't as seasonal."
Summers admires the swan-shaped fruit bowl with attached banana hook ("The quality is real good") and lingers over the apple tray. She is cool toward the cedar hanger and the coaster set and unimpressed by the wall clock. She asks how big the company is (nine employees); how many fruit bowls it could make in a month (1,000 to 2,000; "I have the ability to add more," Ron assures her); and the cost per unit ($35 wholesale).
With QVC's expected profit margin, that means the fruit bowl is potentially a $70 item; in other words, not an obvious bargain. That, Summers suggests, might make it less suitable to be sold with housewares (which happen to be her specialty) and a better candidate for a special show devoted to handicrafts - whose viewers appreciate quality and expect to pay more for it. QVC has such a show, but unfortunately, that buyer is not available today. She would, however, be attending the same trade show as the Howes; could she look them up there?
Ten minutes and it's all over. Summers stands, shakes hands with Ron and Mabel on their way out the door, and then turns to a colleague: "On to the next! Is the lobby packed?"
WHAT'S ON
HSN
From: St. Petersburg,Fla.; since 1982
Reach: 30 million broadcast households; 30 million cable households
1993 financials: Lost $22.8 million on revenues of $1 billion
The skinny: Inventor of the genre; known for hard-sell tactics and aggressive pricing; reportedly on Ted Turner's wish list
QVC
From: West Chester, Pa.; 1986
Reach: 50 million cable households
1993 financials: Made $72.5 million on revenues of $1.2 billion
The skinny: Classier than HSN; features softer sell, firmer pricing
ValueVision
From: Eden Prairie, Minn.; 1991
Reach: 10 million cable households
1993 financials: Lost $1.9 million on revenues of $37.6 million
The skinny: Upstart formed by CVN vets after QVC absorbed CVN in 1989; bugs its bigger brothers by discounting what they can't sell; can handle smaller volume
Catalog 1
From: New York City; March 1994
Reach: 400,000 cable households (test market)
The skinny: Joint venture of Spiegel and Time Warner; uses catalog format, featuring pricey merchandise from Spiegel and Eddie Bauer to start, with that of Horchow and others to follow
TSM
From: St. Petersburg; summer 1994
Reach: 20 million broadcast households; 3 million cable households
The skinny: HSN spin-off; that's TSM, as in Television Shopping Mall
TV Macy's
From: To be announced; fall 1994
Reach: 15 million cable households
The skinny: Features merchandise from Macy's and Bullock's
Q2; On Q
From: New York City; West Chester, Pa.; spring 1994
Reach: To be announced
The skinny: QVC spin-offs; Q2 will feature 30-minute segments on weekends; On Q, aimed at a younger audience, will air on weekdays
FUN FACTS
The book was called 60 Minutes, but it sold out in five. 'We want to sell all our books this way,' says General Publishing's Quay Hays.
The King really is dead: The Elvis tie was quickly yanked off the air after QVC viewers failed to respond by calling in orders.
When spokesmodel Cheryl Ladd couldn't excite much demand for Hydron skin-care products on direct-response TV ads, Harvey Tauman took his products to QVC, went on the air himself, and sold all his merchandise within an hour.
The Bloomin' Aquarium, a flower container, takes advantage of home-shopping TV's ability to showcase products that need to be demonstrated.
Barry Diller brought new credibility to home shopping when he took over QVC.
At both HSN and QVC, jewelry still accounts for almost 50% of all sales.
As the home-shopping channels diversify their lines and tilt ever more upscale, celebrity presenters proliferate. Ivana Trump pitches her jewelry line on HSN.
The Exorb-it 2000, demonstrated live by a presenter on QVC, is a likely TV success because almost any viewer could use it.
