QVC VP: Storytelling "Foundational" in Bringing Analytics to Life

LeBow welcomed Peter Goodnough, VP, Consumer Insights and Analytics at QVC, at its first Business Analytics Speaker Series event of the fall term. Sponsored by the Drexel Business Analytics Association, the series features data professionals in business intelligence and analytics who share their know-how with graduate and undergraduate audiences.

Presenting on strategic context, Goodnough walked the students through a SWOT analysis of the powerhouse home shopping network and e-commerce retailer, discussing viewership analytics, optimization, and the evolution of QVC’s business model through advanced analytics. He also explored behavioral analytics – the use of advanced analytics to determine how consumers behave differently. He described QVC’s practice of using real-time data on a second-by-second basis to determine how to impact consumer behavior during a television broadcast, noting the company’s use of consumer testimonials to spike sales.

Goodnough referenced associations between consumption patterns and the weather or a person’s life changes. “We all read and hear about how e-commerce and technology companies make use of data analysis,” said Ankit Dayal, M.S. ’16. “…but to gain insight into how a company like QVC uses data analysis to capture new customers and improve its business model was eye-opening.”

And after the analysis? Communicating insights to impact decision making, said Goodnough. “Storytelling remains foundational when it comes to making analytics come to life.”

Photo by Shantanu Saha