Qurate Retail Group and NRF Expands to Support Small Businesses in 2021

Qurate Retail Group and the National Retail Federation (NRF) Foundation are growing their profoundly effective Small Business Spotlight activity to help 100 business people of different foundations in 2021. Through this program, Qurate Retail Group will furnish the chose businesses with live or potentially advanced openness and different other free in-kind administrations.

The program expands on Qurate Retail Group's longstanding foundation of supporting small businesses and mirrors the organization's and NRF Foundation's obligation to expanding openings for underrepresented groups. Throughout the long term, Qurate Retail Group has helped various pioneering brands become public and even global examples of overcoming adversity through the force of live video narrating, revelation driven shopping encounters, and steadfast client local area building.

"Our brands' reach across traditional linear TV, digital platforms, and social media-based livestreaming is unrivalled and gives us an extraordinary ability to bring together large communities of highly engaged shoppers around shared interests," said Mike George, President and CEO, Qurate Retail, Inc. "Through the Small Business Spotlight, we are extending our impact far beyond the many entrepreneurial businesses in our vendor base. We're proud to offer special support to local small businesses and their communities."

All through 2021, QVC US, HSN, and Zulily – which arrive at in excess of 90 million homes in the U.S. through transmission channels and millions more by means of computerized and social stages – will advance chosen small businesses during legacy and acknowledgment months, including Black History Month (February), Women's History Month (March), National Military Appreciation Month (May), Pride Month (June), National Hispanic Heritage Month (September), and National Disability Employment Awareness Month (October). All partaking businesses will be profiled on QVC.com and HSN.com and will get PR uphold. What's more:

• Businesses selected for on-air exposure will be featured in several 2-4-minute live segments on QVC and HSN, with the repackaged video also shared on QVC's and HSN's social pages and streaming service. These businesses will also have an opportunity to participate in a virtual mentorship program with Qurate Retail Group team members.
• Businesses selected for digital exposure will receive social tools and resources to promote their participation.
• The Small Business Spotlight will also be amplified on Zulily's digital channels.

The application period opens today and closes February 26. To qualify, a business must meet the program's eligibility requirements, including:

• employing 100 or fewer workers,
• being 51 percent owned by an entrepreneur of a diverse background, and
• having an ecommerce capability and social media presence.

Due to planning and production requirements, featured small businesses for Black History Month and Women's History Month have already been selected.

Qurate Retail Group and the NRF Foundation dispatched the Small Business Spotlight in May 2020 to help small businesses tested by COVID-19. The initial 20 partaking businesses got live meeting sections, repackaged video on QVC and HSN web-based features, email advertising, social posts, and site openness. In a subsequent study, over 80% of businesses saw increments in online deals and new clients. The second period of the Small Business Spotlight, led from August through October, included 40 Black-claimed businesses. The greater part of all small businesses included in the 2020 Small Business Spotlight additionally picked in to partake in virtual tutoring.

"Given the many challenges posed by 2020, the Small Business Spotlight program created a lifeline for small businesses like mine," said April McClung, owner of Emily's Heirloom Poundcakes in Birmingham, Ala. "We were able to reach millions of customers across the country, who would have never known about us, with our unique brand story. The exposure and support generated increased sales and engagement that turned our year around. During a period of so many unknowns and hardships for the small business community, it was truly inspiring to experience this support and encouragement firsthand."

"In 2020, we were inspired by the stories of small business owners across America who continue to serve as the backbone of their communities despite challenges brought on by the pandemic," said Matthew Shay, President and CEO of the National Retail Federation. "NRF and the NRF Foundation are proud to expand our partnership with Qurate Retail Group to help even more small businesses break down the barriers to growth with the program and platform that will allow them to reach new customers in 2021."

About Qurate Retail Group

Qurate Retail GroupSM comprises seven leading retail brands – QVC®, HSN®, Zulily®, Ballard Designs®, Frontgate®, Garnet Hill®, and Grandin Road® – all dedicated to providing a Third Way to Shop®, beyond transactional ecommerce or traditional brick-and-mortar stores. Qurate Retail GroupSM is a world leader in video commerce, among the top 10 ecommerce retailers in North America (according to Digital Commerce 360), and a leader in mobile commerce and social commerce. The retailer reaches approximately 380 million homes worldwide via 15 television networks, attracts 2.4 billion digital sessions per year across its ecommerce sites and mobile apps, and engages customers via social pages, print catalogs, and in-store destinations.

About NRF

The National Retail Federation, the world's largest retail trade association, passionately advocates for the people, brands, policies and ideas that help retail thrive. From its headquarters in Washington, D.C., NRF empowers the industry that powers the economy. Retail is the nation's largest private-sector employer, contributing $3.9 trillion to annual GDP and supporting one in four U.S. jobs — 52 million working Americans. For over a century, NRF and its educational arm, the NRF Foundation, have been a voice for every retailer and every retail job, educating, inspiring and communicating the powerful impact retail has on local communities and global economies.