However, the word tele-shopping in India conjures up images of some foreigners selling corny slim sauna belts, instant weight-reducing machines and our TV celebrities marketing products like lucky gem stones, vegetable cutters and steam irons. Nobody takes them seriously. “Exactly,” says Malhotra who has the dubious task of erasing this perception. “Indian audiences have lost trust and credibility in the products sold on TV, which is why we sell only branded goods, which have a guarantee,” he affirms. From Philips to Sony to Tanishq, HomeShop has around 250 brands in 20 categories and 15000 products, which are sold at a discounted price. “It’s not really a discount, it’s just that we sell directly to the customer eliminating the chain of distributor to retailer. We sell it at the actual price, which is lesser than the market price.” Doesn’t that affect the manufacturers’ margins, which would be higher in the normal distribution chain? “Sometimes it does, at times it doesn’t, but the fact is, we provide a unique alternative distribution platform with a network across 2000 cities which is bigger than any FMCG company,” says Malhotra.

To win over the trust of the viewers, the channel employs people who are in the know-how of the product, to talk about it. Celebrities are used sparingly or not at all. “Our aim is to convert the viewer into a customer for which the product is the star,” smiles Malhotra. However, the channel does have special shows built around the product or the theme. A travel show for selling travel packages, a gadgets’ bazaar, a morning bazaar, a kids’ special etc. to name a few Of course, there’s Sanjeev Kapoor on a cookery show and Meher Bhasin as the beauty expert on Beautiful Hamesha, which sells beauty products. Of the products sold, jewellery, kitchen and home appliances are the fastest moving ones.

Darshan Mehrotra, a brand manager of a leading publication, may not have bought any products from the channel, but is “highly tempted to. My aunts don’t think twice about snapping up the jewellery and furniture sold on the channel,” he quips. A colleague is proud about buying a heavily embroidered dress at a throwaway price which she thinks is a steal. The only hitch is not many know of the existence of this channel. “We haven’t started marketing yet, we are driven by transactions,” avers Malhotra who wants to put things like reach, product portfolio and content in order first. Yet, believe it or not, the channel claims to get a customer every 22 seconds. In fact HomeShop18 has a website for online shopping but Malhotra says that 60 per cent of their business is through television and the channel has helped increase the sales online by 44 per cent.

The channel according to Malhotra performed phenomenally well during the recession period and strike on television. In fact, the channel had introduced Mid Week Price Cut, a super sale every week only on Wednesdays and Thursdays and Shop999, where-in all the products are sold at Rs 999. “During these recessionary times, we have seen some businesses bucking the trend and ours is one of them,”insists Malhotra. Accordingly, their sales, which have been growing by 50 per cent on a monthly basis have been doubled during these months. He reasons that the discounts offered by them can’t be matched by any other retailer, “which is why our sales are growing”.