QVC Mobile Shopping (US)

Review by eFreeware

Most shopping apps ask you to browse a catalog. QVC Mobile Shopping asks you to watch a channel. The live 16:9 HD stream sits alongside the store, and the item being shown on air can be bought from the same screen. That pairing is the app's identity, and it shapes everything else about how it works.

The app is free, has no ads and no in-app purchases, and it has been on Android since June 2010. It has been installed more than a million times and holds a 4.1 average from 30,983 ratings. I'd expect it to appeal most to people who already shop with QVC, and to viewers who like the idea of buying something while a presenter is still describing it.

Built for viewers who buy, and buyers who watch

The clearest fit is someone who watches QVC regularly and wants the television and the shopping cart in one place. Instead of noting an item number and looking it up later on a computer, you can watch the broadcast and purchase the current Item On Air without leaving the app. For that person, the app removes a step that the channel's format otherwise creates.

A second group is shoppers who arrive without the broadcast in mind. The catalog covers more than 50,000 items, searchable by category, item number, product description, brand, phrase or word, and the results can be narrowed further. If you know the brand you want or half of an item number, you can go straight there and skip the channel entirely.

The app also carries a layer of programming information that suits people who plan around shows rather than browse. The Program Guide lists upcoming broadcasts and lets you set reminders for them, and Items Recently On Air can be narrowed by show. That is a different habit from casual browsing: it assumes you know which program you care about and want to be told when it starts.

The kitchen side is narrower but distinctive. Unlimited access to more than 500 recipes from David Venable, host of In the Kitchen with David, comes with how-to videos, backstage photos and a section for kitchen and food products. Anyone who watches that show has a reason to keep the app open beyond the checkout.

Watching live and buying what is on screen

The live stream is delivered in full 16:9 HD, and the current Item On Air is purchasable from within the app. That is the core loop: watch, decide, buy, all while the segment is running. The developer notes that streaming can significantly raise your mobile data usage and may lead to extra carrier charges, which is worth planning for if you watch away from Wi-Fi.

Voice commands extend this: speaking can launch Live TV, the Program Guide, Item On Air, Items Recently On Air or My Account.

The homepage pulls the day's commercial hooks together. Deals on air, Today's Special Value and One Day Only pricing, plus recent items and promos. If you check the app once a day, that screen is where the time-sensitive offers live.

Search, product pages and the tools around them

Search is the app's other main entry point. It covers the full catalog, and predictive search recognizes popular brands and keywords so results appear as you type. You can speak a keyword or item number into the search bar's microphone and the app finds it. For anyone who has ever written an item number on a slip of paper, that is the feature that makes the app worth having on a phone.

Product pages carry customer ratings and reviews, and the enhanced versions add images, sizing, color swatches, availability and delivery date estimates. Template-driven pages bring a sort and refine control so long result lists can be filtered down. Pinch and zoom on a product detail page lets you look more closely at the item, which matters for fabrics, finishes and small print on a label.

Sharing and saving are handled in a few ways. Items can go out through Facebook or Twitter, or be emailed to a friend or to yourself as a reminder to come back later. Between reminders for shows, emailed items and the wishlist in the account area, there are several places to park something you are not ready to buy.

Checkout, cart and account

Speed Buy is the app's fast checkout path, and new customers can create an account inside the app. Your email address can be saved for quicker purchases later. Persistent login, which the developer says was added after customer feedback, keeps your sign-in credentials across screens once you have signed in, so moving between the broadcast, a product page and your account does not mean signing in again.

Two PayPal options are available at checkout. The cart is shared across iOS, Android and QVC.com, so an item added on a phone is waiting when you open the site on a computer, and the reverse also holds. That cross-platform cart is one of the more useful things here for anyone who shops in more than one place.

On the security side, the checkout process encrypts personal information with Secure Sockets Layer software, in the same way as QVC.com, and the QVC PIN is not stored on the device. California residents exercising their rights under state law are directed to a specific section of the QVC Privacy Policy covering opting out of sales.

What it costs and what happens if you send something back

The app itself is free. There are no ads and no in-app purchases, so nothing is charged for the stream, the search tools or the recipes. Your spending, if any, happens on merchandise.

Those fees come back if the item was faulty or the mistake was QVC's. QVC's General Terms and Conditions of Use and Privacy Policy, linked from the QVC.com homepage, govern use of its services and purchases made through them.

Several service credentials are listed: multiple BizRate Circle of Excellence honors, a Shopping.com Trusted Store Seal, and participation in the VeriSign Secured Seal Program. Those are the company's own claims, and they sit alongside the security detail above rather than replacing it.

How it compares with other ways to shop

Against a general marketplace app, the difference is the broadcast. A large retailer's app gives you a catalog and a search box; this one gives you those plus a live channel, a program guide and reminders, and ties the purchase to whatever is being shown. If you never watch the channel, you are using the app for its catalog and search alone, and the comparison becomes much closer.

Against a dedicated streaming service, the trade-off runs the other way. A streaming app is built for watching; this one is built for watching and buying, with the cart, the payment methods and the returns process attached. The developer's own warning about data use applies to the stream in either case.

Against shopping on a mobile browser, the app's advantages are the persistent login, the shared cart across platforms, Speed Buy and the voice tools. Browsing QVC.com on a phone gets you the catalog, but not the app-specific shortcuts or the streamlined checkout.

A sensible download for regular QVC viewers

QVC Mobile Shopping does one thing that most shopping apps cannot: it puts a live shopping channel and its checkout in the same place. The live 16:9 HD stream, the purchasable Item On Air, the program guide with reminders and the recipe library all reinforce each other, and the search, voice input and shared cart make the app usable on its own terms when you are not watching.

The strongest case for installing it is that you already watch QVC or shop with the company and want fewer steps between seeing something and buying it. The 4.1 average across 30,983 ratings suggests a generally satisfied audience, and the free price with no ads and no in-app purchases removes the usual hesitation. Keep the data warning in mind if you plan to watch the stream on a mobile connection rather than Wi-Fi.

If your shopping habits run toward comparing specs across many retailers, or you prefer to research an item for days before committing, the app's live, time-limited format will feel like pressure rather than convenience. For everyone else who enjoys the channel, it is a straightforward download: the catalog, the broadcast and the cart are all here, and the returns policy is stated plainly enough to know where you stand.

What's new in version 5.31.0

We’ve made navigating QVC simpler. Home - Discover all the QVC promotions including the TSV, deals & upcoming programming. Shop - Find all the shopping categories & Search for product Watch - Live QVC Broadcast Channels, Shop Items Recently on Air, & View Program guide where you can set Reminders for upcoming shows Cart - View Items added to your Cart, Saved Items and Checkout Account - Sign in and out, Manage your Account, View your Orders & Wishlist, Edit Reminders and Contact Us!