Magazines Archives - 2007 June

GS HOME SHOPPING, South Korea’s largest such retailer, is shifting its focus to e-commerce in the expectation that its Internet business will account for more than half the company’s total revenue in the next three years.

The company’s vice-president and CFO, Noh Young Joon, told Reuters that he did not expect ay fresh momentum in the TV homeshopping industry in the next two to three years, citing market saturation and new digital broadcast platforms as two reasons for this stagnation.

Among the setbacks for this segment are rising commissions to cable operators and price wars with other vendors. Competition runs high in the TV home-shopping industry whose future looks bleak. On the other hand, South-Korea’s US$14-billion online retail market is looking at a yearly growth of 20%, despite an overall retail growth of less than 5% due to external factors.

Apart from its online venture with existing retailers, GS Home Shopping plans to explore the market in the Asian region, and is setting its sights on India and Vietnam. In 2005, the company established its China unit in Chongqing. Despite a relatively nascent online market, the company is expecting a yearly revenue of US$115 million.