Home Shopping Network

Home Shopping Network (HSN) utilises the reach of television and internet (retail website) in order to reach consumers to whom it sells the products it retails. The firm started retailing on television in 1982. It is obvious that competition has grown since then due to the emergence of other online retail companies such as Amazon.com, Ebay.com and Alibaba.com hence the firm had to undergo differentiation in order to reach its customers.

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The company has differentiated in through the elements of the retail marketing mix. The marketing mix elements include product, promotion, place and price. One critical element is a promotion. The firm has utilised its television programs to promote its products. Someone maybe watching the program for entertainment but through the process, they can identify a product that they need and end up buying it. HSN has crossed the boundary from television promotion programs to the internet by developing its own retail website, it also promotes the product through mobile interfaces.

The firm has an assortment of products on sale, some of the products that HSN sells cannot be bought from other retailers. This shows HSNs differentiation under the product marketing retail mix element. The firm offers it customer competitive prices compared to other retailers and this has contributed to customers preferring to shop on HSN to save on the competitive prices.

Home Shopping Network ships the products bought by customers directly to them. Other retailers do the same but HSN has does this through its programming and other media. The HSNs method of distribution of goods through programming makes it different from other retailers.

HSN developed the notion of retailing on television in the 1980s. The concept at this time was underdeveloped but with time, the firm has improved the quality of the television marketing programs and has also increased the variety of products that it deals with. The firm has also undergone differentiation crossing boundaries into different retailing channels apart from television programs.

According to Rao, the concept of the product lifecycle is also valid for retail firms. The firms go through innovation, accelerated growth, maturity and decline stages. HSN has changed its strategies over the years in order to be able to cope with the ever increasing competition and the changing customer preferences. According to Centre for Retail Research E-commerce is the fastest growing market in Europe and North America. The statistics confirm the bright future of online retail marketing companies including HSN, hence if the companies adopts strategies that are superior or equal to its competitors as it is doing currently then it has a bright future.

Works Cited

Online Retailing: Britain, Europe, US and Canada 2016. Centre for Retail Research. Web. 2 April 2016.

Rao Sree. The concept of Life Cycle in Retail. Cite Management Article of Repository of Cite. Co. 15 November 2009. Web. 2 April 2016.