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Actor Akshay Kumar and Rajasthan Royals co-owner Raj Kundra have teamed to launch a new home-shopping channel - Best Deals TV. The channel, which will also have a presence on the digital platform, is positioned as a celebrity-driven 24/7 Home shopping channel.
Best Deals TV will go live nationwide from March 18 as a free-to-air channel available across all major cable and direct-to-home (DTH) platforms. The 24-hour channel will have three hours of fresh content/product demos a day, which can then be ordered via the 24-hour call centres, or through the website. The website will also have a condensed version of the hour-long show, demonstrating the product and explaining its features.
Kundra says, "While there are 11 home-shopping channels in India - three of them prominent at the national level - there is scope for growth. The biggest apprehension about this medium of shopping is the authenticity of the products. Here, we have made sure that the products are sourced from the manufacturer directly after checking the quality etc. This not only helps build confidence, but since it's managed by us end-to-end, it helps streamline the back-end as well."
He adds the channel will also serve as a platform for celebrities who want to launch their own merchandise. Celebrity-owned brands are yet to make an impact in India with very few being around. Hrithik Roshan, for instance, has launched a range of fitness wear called Hrx, while Sonam Kapoor and her sister are said to be launching a fashion retail outlet. Entering the Rs 4,000-crore home-shopping market thus made sense with the celebrity-led positioning, says Kundra. The sector is growing at the rate of 30 per cent and has players such as CJ Alive and HomeShop18. Recently, Snapdeal.com collaborated with national cable operator network DEN Networks, to launch a home shopping channel.
Celebrities from Bollywood, television, and sports will collaborate with the channel to develop brands and products, which will then be sold on Best Deals TV. Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha are two such celebs who have already signed up with the channel. While the intellectual property rights of the products will lie with the celebrity, Best Deals TV will have long-term rights for sales across mediums such as television and digital, among others.
Kundra says the initial investment put in by him and his partner is around Rs 100 crore. However, he and his team aim to reach the break-even within a couple of years considering their internal estimates say Best Deals TV can achieve 3,000 product sales a day. "We are expecting a turnover of Rs 500 crore by the end of the first year and aim to maintain a net margin of 10 per cent," he says.
Products available on the channels will include those from health and beauty, home decor, lifestyle and fashion and the price range for these will be up to Rs 7,000. The channel will stay away from discounts, since the products have been sourced at competitive prices. Also, in order to avoid clutter on the platform, the channel will have up to 30 products on sale, compared to 100 products at a time on other channels. This will also help keep the inventory fresh as the products will be changed every month or so.
Kumar and Kundra are open to strategic partnerships. "We are in talks with a couple of players, but nothing concrete is likely in the immediate future. We have got good valuations from PwC; so we are sure we'll attract good partners. Funding may not be needed with our model, but we want to have strategic partnerships. The PwC report valued us at Rs 450 crore after studying our model and business plan," Kundra adds.
Apart from celebrity-driven products and brands, the channel will also serve as a platform to promote and sell licensed products from franchises in the Indian Premier League.
