Owner of QVC and HSN Hires David Rawlinson as Its Next CEO

E-commerce executive tapped to drive retailer to adapt after pandemic

Mr. Rawlinson, 45, is a market researcher at NielsenIQ and former executive of industrial supplier WW Grainger Inc.

He will join the board of Kurta in January.

Mr Rollinson, who is black, is at the helm of affairs at a time when companies are trying to diversify their workforce, executive suites and boardrooms in the wake of racial protests following the killing of George Floyd during an arrest by Minneapolis police. Jeffrey Davis, Kurett’s chief financial officer, who has held the role since October 2018, is also Black.

“Representation matters,” Mr. Rawlinson said in an interview. “It is important for every youth to see that their future is limitless.”

Mr. Rawlinson said he was ready for the job because his mother watched QVC and HSN when he was growing up in Rock Hill, SC.

“It was the background music of my childhood,” he said.

A lot has changed in the business since then. Qurate, which owns online retailer Zully as well as catalog mailers Frontgate and Garnet Hill, and other retail brands, has transitioned from selling mostly on TVs to becoming a major e-commerce player.

Greg Maffee, President of Curate, said Mr. Rawlinson has a mandate to continue that growth. The company is facing stiff competition coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic as more retailers launch live-streaming platforms.

“David is a good fit to be the change agent,” said Mr. Maffei.

“We are in the midst of a real shift in consumer behavior,” said Mr. Rawlinson. “Some of it was driven by the pandemic and some was happening earlier.”

Like other retailers, Qureate has bounced back from the depths of the pandemic. Revenue rose 14% to $3.3 billion in the three months to March 31. The company came in at a net profit of $206 million from a loss of $20 million a year earlier.

Mr. Rawlinson holds a BA in Political Science from The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. He holds a law degree from the University of South Carolina School of Law and an MBA degree from Harvard University.

In 2008, he became a White House Fellow in the George W. Bush administration and transitioned to a Senior Adviser for Economic Policy on the White House National Economic Council under President Barack Obama.

He ran Grainger’s online business from 2015 to 2020 before joining NielsenIQ, which provides market share and other data to large retailers.

Source: Business Hala

Easy Macrame Bunting

Transform your home and garden with this on-trend Macramé bunting tutorial brought to you by Bergin & Bath. A fun project that allows you to personalise your bunting to suit your home or your personality!

“The perfect addition to any garden party or boho scheme, this macramé bunting project from Bergin & Bath is so easy to make and relaxing too!”

Read the tutorial: HERE

ITV To launch shoppable TV

ITV is to launch shoppable TV, allowing viewers to discover and shop items from its programmes directly on screen, the first service of its kind in the UK. Viewers can initiate the shopping interface at any time by using their LG remote but must actively opt-in to receive the notifications and use the service.

The service launches during Love Island on ITV2 with Boots UK as the first confirmed launch partner.

The interactive system uses AI technology from The Take, a contextual product discovery company. The Take’s technology is built directly into LG TV sets in the UK and is being used for the first time in this country by ITV. The service identifies and tags featured products during programmes and notifies viewers that products on-screen are available. If a viewer is interested, they can select to view more info with their remote and make a purchase via the vendor’s site or a link sent to their phone.

Using the on-screen shopping interface, viewers can scroll through products, which will refresh when different products and characters are shown during a programme. Additionally, users can also choose to view all products available from the episode of the show that they’re watching. All 2021 LG TVs have the technology integrated as standard and it can be added via software update to 2019 and 2020 models. Boots will be the first partner to trial this new technology, working closely with ITV. In addition, ITV is talking to further partners.

Launching initially in Love Island, ITV plans to roll-out the service on other programmes across different genres throughout the rest of 2021. The Take technology is already live in the USA on 2021, 2020, and 2019 LG TVs.

Bhavit Chandrani, ITV, Director Digital and Creative Partnerships, said: “This is a unique commercial opportunity and the next natural step in what we can offer to brands. Love Island has been a fantastic platform for innovation in how we work with commercial partners over the past few years and is the perfect show to introduce shoppable TV before we roll it out across other programmes.”

Paul Ridsdale, ITV, Acting Chief Marketing Officer, said: “Shoppable TV is a wonderful innovation to allow ITV viewers to be able to shop directly from their TVs, filling a real gap currently in the market. We know ITV viewers enjoy being able to purchase items featured in our programmes and this makes doing that smoother and easier than ever before.”

Ty Cooper, CEO and Co-founder of TheTake said: “We are thrilled to introduce our interactive product discovery platform to the UK market with premier partners in ITV and LG. We look forward to helping ITV viewers discover and engage with the products that inspire them on the programmes that they love.”

Pete Markey, Chief Marketing Officer, Boots UK comments: “We are very excited to be partnering with ITV and TheTake on the new and innovative opportunity. Launching shoppable TV as part of our wider partnership with Love Island is a great way to help customers easily shop the products they spot in the villa and recreate iconic islander looks from the show. It will simplify the customer journey and bring the Boots brand even closer to the Love Island audience.”

“This AI feature makes the LG TV viewing experience more convenient and enjoyable by providing the most relevant information you would like to know while watching ITV's programmes, meaning the TV becomes the main hub of entertainment and information in your living room,” commented Mihee Yoo, Content and Services Manager, Smart TV for LG UK. “We are looking forward to expanding this feature to be available on more ITV programmes on LG TVs in the future.”