Thaindian News

By Radhika Bhirani
New Delhi, Oct 17 (IANS) Janki Kapoor, a mother of three, is so busy with her household chores that she has no time to visit the market for buying Diwali gifts. But she isn’t a worried woman as she has home shopping channels to her rescue these days!

A large number of people caught in similar situations are opting to sit back at home, relax, and shop from the comfort of their couches through home shopping channels like HomeShop 18 and the recently launched STAR CJ Alive.

With the festive season on in full swing, these channels are cashing in on such demands by throwing in umpteen offers and discounts for their clients.

While HomeShop 18 has just launched its ‘Diwali Dhamaal 2010′ promotion, STAR CJ Alive too has come up with a line-up of interesting offers around home appliances, jewellery, gizmos and gadgets.

“In India, customers wait for the festive season to get the best deals on all their shopping needs. The idea is to provide customers with an unmatched shopping experience ahead of the festive season with a fabulous range of products at unbeatable prices,” Sundeep Malhotra, CEO of HomeShop 18, told IANS.

The ‘Diwali Dhamaal 2010′ promotion also gives consumers a chance to win prizes ranging from Honda City and Maruti Swift cars to Yamaha bikes to LCD TVs.

” ‘Diwali Dhamaal 2010′ is a unique promotion assuring a gift on every purchase and a chance to win five bumper draws. Our Diwali promotion is on till Nov 7 and we do foresee a good response from it,” Malhotra added.

According to Paritosh Joshi, CEO of STAR CJ Network India Ltd, the festive season and holiday periods give an impetus to his channel, which was launched in July.

“In the relatively short time since its launch, our channel has witnessed some remarkable milestones - notable amongst which is the phenomenal average daily sales of over Rs.1 crore that it clocked during its three-day Independence Day promotion in August.

“This Dussehra and Navratras, we have introduced a slew of exciting offers across various categories like laptops, digital cameras, mobile phones, microwave ovens, kitchenware and jewelry for our viewers,” Joshi said.

Indian consumers are gradually warming up to the idea of shopping from home as it just requires placing an order through a call or an SMS, and there are multiple payment options available, including cash on delivery as well as paying through a credit card.

However, several issues need to be tackled before home shopping becomes a big phenomenon in the country, says Joshi.

“The facility of shopping via TV has been available for years now but home shopping as a medium in India still hasn’t kicked off in a big way. So while there is awareness, it is not of the right kind. The reason for this has been due to factors ranging from low TV penetration, lack of proper awareness or negative awareness, odd timings and expensive TV slots.

“Also, due to a few unsavoury telebrands, the image of home shopping in the consumers’ mind has been tarnished, thus making them cynical towards this medium of shopping. Innovation along with understanding and addressing the actual needs of the consumer is the need of the hour,” Joshi explained.

But as Malhotra of HomeShop 18 put it: “The journey has just started.”

“There is a huge potential in the home shopping space in India. There are exciting times ahead. With the digitalisation of television, the reach will become far more diverse and more brands will come on to the platform, giving today’s connected and busy consumers the power to shop at their own will, any time, anywhere,” Malhotra said.

(Radhika Bhirani can be contacted at radhika.b@ians.in)