Mumbai : Entrepreneur Raj Kundra and actor Akshay Kumar have ventured into the over Rs 13,000-crore Indian home shopping market on television with the launch of ‘Best Deal TV’.
Kundra has raised Rs 32 crore for the 24×7 home shopping channel by selling 15% stake in it to a private equity firm. The transaction values `Best Deal TV’ at Rs 260 crore.
“The home shopping market is tainted for the kind of products that have been sold in the past. People watch the fake promises on TV that are being given for products. We are here to break open the cluster totally,” Kundra said.
“We want to be the QVC of the world to deliver the same kind of top quality experience. What we have done is brought celebrities to a home shopping channel for the first time in India. Currently, the top three players hold 60% market share, so the potential is huge.”
Free-to-air Best Deal TV will be available across all major cable and DTH platforms as well as online. The celebrities on the channel will not be brand ambassadors but will be signed on a profit-sharing model.Among the names that Kundra shared were those of cricketers Ajinkya Rahane, Yuvraj, producer Ekta Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty and Sonakshi Sinha.
The running of the 24×7 home shopping channel is expected to cost at least Rs 100 crore, Kundra said, adding that actor Kumar will be a minority stake holder.”In fact, interestingly , Akshay got interested when I went to him with a product match for him and he got so interested in the venture that he came on board as a partner,” said Kundra.
The channel Best Deal TV will have celebrities selling their own products that will fall under the price range of Rs. 2000-6000. Raj Kundra is of an opinion that his products will have great value for money and what people will find on their channel they won’t find it anywhere else in the market.
The venture will start with 30 products covering lifestyle, home, health, fashion and beauty . “We did a trial run of putting 6,000 SSK sarees, created by Shilpa (Shetty Kundra) up ON Home Shop 18, priced at Rs 2,000 each, and they sold out in 22 minutes. So I am confident about the response,” Kundra said.
When asked about taking such a bold step out of his zone Akshay Kumar responded, “In my career of 25 years I have always been a risk-taker be it stunts, choice of my films or my decision to do multiple films in a year. This is a new kind of space I’m entering, which has a lot to do with home shopping, but has a celebrity factor attached too. Home shopping channels is a $4 billion industry so we thought why not be the first ones in India to do it with a celebrity angle?”
