Korean Home Shopping Becomes Global Bridge for SME Product Sales

It's been ten years since Korean home shopping companies launched in other countries. CJ Home Shopping, Hyundai Home Shopping, GS Home Shopping, and Lotte Home Shopping have made localized versions of their home shopping companies in 10 countries: China, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey, Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, Vietnam, and Taiwan.

The globalization of Korea's home shopping channels took a successful step in 2004 with CJ O Shopping, which launched a joint-venture home shopping channel called Dongbang CJ with Shanghai Media Group. Technically, Hyundai Home Shopping was the first to enter China in 2003, but it failed and withdrew its business in 2007. Dongbang CJ still survives as the only profitable channel out of all 21 channels that have been launched globally.

Lotte Home Shopping also entered Taiwan by joining forces with the biggest financial holdings company in Taiwan, called Fubon Company, in 2004. In 2009, GS Home Shopping made its first global step with “Homeshop18” in India. Hyundai Home Shopping entered China for the second time in 2011.

These home shopping channels located abroad are major channels for selling products made by SMEs. The Korean Commission for Corporate Partnership and Small & Medium Business Administration made an agreement to support the sales of SME products through home shopping in January 2013. The percentage of SME products sold through GS Home Shopping in Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam are 94 percent, 81 percent, and 100 percent, respectively. Last month, CJ O Shopping announced that it is accepting applications from companies that are interested in entering the Chinese market through its home shopping channel in China.

GS Home Shopping is launching a home shopping channel called "Go Shop" in Malaysia next month. Hyundai Home Shopping is entering Vietnam via a joint venture with the subsidiaries of VTV.