Qurate Retail Group — parent company of QVC and HSN — has made two new executive appointments as it works to differentiate the home shopping brands and build out its omnichannel video commerce operation. Soumya Sriraman joins from Amazon as President of Streaming for Qurate Retail Group, and Stacy Bowe, previously of G-III Apparel Group and Macy’s, has been named Chief Merchandising Officer for QVC U.S.
In March 2022, Qurate announced a restructure designed to strengthen the differentiation between QVC and HSN and amplify the company’s position in livestreaming with the creation of the vCommerce Ventures business unit. In their new roles, both Sriraman and Bowe will now be central to those efforts.
Sriraman was most recently Head of Prime Video Channels at Amazon. In her newly created role at Qurate, she will lead the company’s streaming commerce business, which includes the recently launched QVC+ and HSN+ online streaming services; expand QVC’s and HSN’s presence on digital livestreaming TV; and other opportunities. Sriraman will report to Mary Campbell, President of vCommerce Ventures.
Streaming plays a critical role in Qurate Retail Group’s growth strategies. QVC+ and HSN+ are currently available to approximately 120 million internet-connected homes across the U.S. Since the beginning of the year, streaming viewership has grown by more than 70% and monthly active users have grown to approximately 600,000, due in large part to multiple content and programming initiatives that include the debut of dozens of new programs and themed channels. On linear TV, QVC and HSN are available in 92 million U.S. homes.
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New Chief Merchant Bowe joins QVC from apparel and accessories manufacturer G-III Apparel Group, where she led global ecommerce and digital marketing. Prior to G-III, Bowe spent more than 20 years at Macy’s in a variety of executive leadership roles. Bowe will develop and lead QVC’s merchandising strategy across all product categories with the goal of re-energizing the brand’s assortments and differentiating QVC from HSN. Bowe will report to Mike Fitzharris, President of QVC U.S. In fiscal year 2021, QVC represented approximately three-quarters of Qurate’s $8.3 billion in vCommerce revenue in the U.S., with HSN representing the rest.
“These appointments reflect Qurate Retail Group’s ability to attract the most accomplished and ambitious executive talent in retail,” said David Rawlinson II, President and CEO of Qurate Retail, Inc. in a statement. “Our vCommerce teams — QVC, HSN and vCommerce Ventures — are disrupting video shopping and we believe we have a right to win in this growing industry. In addition, we are accelerating the pace of change within Qurate Retail Group through Project Athens, our turnaround plan, which touches nearly every facet of our business.”
