QVC®, a world leader in live video commerce (“vCommerce”), today announced an expanded commitment to growing its accessible and adaptive assortments, streamlining how customers find and explore them, and enhancing the accessibility of its end-to-end shopping experience. As part of this journey, QVC has named actor, best-selling author and disability advocate Selma Blair as its Brand Ambassador for Accessibility. QVC is part of Qurate Retail, Inc. (NASDAQ: QRTEA, QRTEB, QRTEP).
QVC has launched a dedicated Accessible & Adaptive category – with hundreds of products spanning fashion, home, electronics and beauty – making QVC one of the first U.S. retailers to curate the full lifestyle of accessible products into a single multicategory offering. QVC is highlighting accessible products within each category and has launched a one-stop digital storefront for these products, with solution-based navigation and options to filter by adaptive features.
In addition, QVC has introduced “Accessible Living,” an on-air show focused on essential home products that simplify everyday tasks and promote independent living. Across all vCommerce programming, QVC is demonstrating accessibility features of products more frequently, while also representing the disability, aging, post-surgery and recovery, and caregiving communities in product presentations and photography. The retailer is also conducting a 360-degree review of all customer touchpoints – from its advertising to its vCommerce platforms, delivery processes and more – and making changes to increase accessibility and ensure a barrier-free customer experience.
“We believe everyone deserves inclusive shopping experiences, services and products that make them feel seen, including the millions of Americans who are living with a disability; aging in place or in assisted living; recovering from a surgery, illness or injury; or supporting others as a caregiver,” said Rachel Ungaro, GMM and VP of Fashion Merchandising for QVC. “Our goal is to meet each customer where they are in the arc of life and empower them to express their own unique style. We plan to expand our offerings in our Accessible & Adaptive category by attracting new brands to QVC, widening our relationships with existing vendors, and developing proprietary products and brands.”
QVC has a long commitment to customer inclusivity. Virtually from its launch, QVC has offered fashion in a wide range of sizes for all women, with the same pricing regardless of size. The expanded focus on accessibility reflects rising customer demand, particularly for fashion that offers more options without sacrificing style and form, and for home products that simplify day-to-day life, improve safety, and promote independent living. QVC’s live, interactive vCommerce model gives the company an exceptional level of insight into customer trends.
“When QVC approached me, I was so impressed and grateful that they were welcoming these conversations,” said Blair. “One of the basic comforts of our life is being able to have fun shopping and to find things we find beautiful and useful. There is a more vibrant way to showcase these products, and I’m so excited to join QVC in exploring what is out there for all of us.”
Blair became an icon of the early 2000s through breakout roles in such pop culture classics as “Cruel Intentions” and “Legally Blonde.” In 2018, she announced her diagnosis with multiple sclerosis (MS). Blair has welcomed the public into her health journey and embraced fans through social media, her acclaimed memoir, the New York Times Bestseller “Mean Baby,” and the award-winning documentary “Introducing, Selma Blair,” which chronicled Blair adapting to new ways of living after her MS diagnosis. She travels extensively speaking about disability and inclusion and is considered a changemaker on social issues. In 2017, she was named as one of Time Magazine’s People of the Year as one of their Silence Breakers. Blair collaborated with Google on its accessible marketing playbook and has appeared in ad campaigns for Chanel, Miu-Miu and Marc Jacobs. Blair recently became Chief Creative Officer at GUIDE Beauty, a cosmetics company that uses design-for-all concepts to provide options to apply makeup. Blair’s disability advocacy earned her The Hollywood Reporter’s 2021 Equity in Entertainment Award and the Media Access Awards’ 2022 SAG-AFTRA Harold Russell Award and 2021 Visionary Award. She was most recently seen sharing her story on “Dancing with the Stars,” for which she won The People’s Choice Award for Competition Contestant of 2022.
QVC has also joined forces with Maura Horton, a disability diversity and inclusion consultant affecting change through education, product development, strategic partnerships and embracing global inclusion. Horton’s roots are in product design and development, as she was a trailblazer in the adaptive fashion movement. After her husband was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease, Horton pioneered the concept of adaptive clothing that prioritized function and fashion equally. She founded MagnaReady, an adaptive apparel company, then sold her company in 2019 and shifted to overall inclusion work. She continues to be a driving force of the adaptive movement, working to develop holistically inclusive designs that span digital strategies, language guides, and authentic representations in wellness, home, beauty, style and more.
“QVC’s livestream vCommerce platforms and relationships give the company a unique opportunity to be a changemaker in this space,” said Horton. “I see QVC as the ideal retailer to curate products and tell human stories that demonstrate the arc of life. I’m pleased to help QVC create safe spaces where people can find the resources they need and feel the security of knowing they are not alone.”
The task force leading QVC’s accessibility initiative includes team members from the disability and caregiving communities and from QVC’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team. The accessibility initiative reflects QVC’s commitment to fostering inclusive environments and touches every aspect of how the company operates. QVC has articulated commitments specific to disability inclusion as part of The Valuable 500.
“This journey is personal for many team members,” Ungaro said. “We know this is a long-term project, with plenty to learn along the way. We are committed to listening and evolving, so we can make a lasting difference.”
