In the Classroom with Mary Campbell

April 11, 2019: Mary Campbell, Chief Merchandising Officer, Qurate Retail Group, and Chief Commerce Officer, QVC US, recently had the opportunity to guest lecture for a Wharton School retail merchandising course at The University of Pennsylvania.

The course, which focuses on the theory and practice of planning, buying, designing, sourcing, displaying and fulfilling merchandise to consumers, is taught by Bryan Eshelman, Managing Director in the retail practice of AlixPartners, a global management consultancy that works with Qurate Retail.

“The opportunity to hear from a senior retail leader like Mary is an amazing way to expose my students to not just the theory, but the practice of merchandising,” said Bryan. “With so much change in the retail and digital landscape, it is even more valuable to learn about Qurate Retail’s unique business model.”

During the class, Mary was able to share her merchandising expertise while highlighting Qurate Retail’s  story to the 65 business school students in attendance. Topics spanned from Qurate Retail’s agile business model to the different ways QVC and HSN are integrating new technologies into their platforms. The students also had the opportunity to ask Mary questions about the business as well as her personal career journey.

“Your career is a marathon, not a sprint and should have many different chapters,” Mary shared as her parting advice to the students. “Stay curious and take a lot of risk because the retail landscape changes every day.”