The Teleshopping Business in India

Teleshopping Traumas Contd...

According to market sources, Telebrands was the only network that was able to sustain itself and make profits – though it was attributed by many to the strong support it received from its parent company, Telebrands Inc. The reasons for the slow growth of the teleshopping market in India were many, the most important being the abundant supply of imitation product. Local entrepreneurs copied the products advertised on TV and very soon the markets were flooded with imitated versions of these products. These products were not only cheaper compared to organized sector products, but also offered consumers the facility to personally touch and appraise them. Mahesh Panna of Telebrands said, "What happens is that we come out with a product and it is promptly copied by a local player. He obviously sells it at a lesser price.

This way the whole market goes out of our hands." To address this problem, networks such as Telebrands and ASK opened special retail outlets in all major metros and semi-metros to enable customers to personally appraise the products offered, before making a purchase decision.

Apart from the new products, the companies also retailed those products, which had been taken off air (to make place for new products) but still had potential for sale.

However, the local retailers still enjoyed a substantial price advantage over the teleshopping networks due to local manufacturing, low transportation costs and elimination of distribution/delivery costs.

Though the teleshopping networks claimed that their pricing strategies were in tune with the target customer's profile, the reality was very different. The higher prices were proving to be a major hindrance for the growth of teleshopping networks. Most of the products were priced between Rs 1,000-5,000. Customers were found to be unwilling to pay this amount for lifestyle products that ranked rather low in their household purchasing priority list.

The differences in the culture and language also posed problems and hampered the prospects of teleshopping market in India. As teleshopping networks needed to telecast their programs in different regions, they dubbed most of their infomercials into the regional languages.

The Teleshopping Business in India - Next Page >>>

Case Details

Case Code : MKTG036
Themes: Marketing Mix
Case Length : 12 Pages
Period : 1990-2002
Organization : Varied
Pub Date : 2002
Teaching Note : Available
Countries : India
Industry : Media and Advertising

Free Case Studies

Business Strategy
Finance
HRM
Insurance
IT and Systems
Marketing
Operations
Leadership
More Case Studies >>

Micro Case Studies

Business Environment
Business Ethics
Business Strategy
Human Resource Management
IT and Systems
Marketing
Operations
Micro Case Studies >>

Free Resources

Micro Case Studies
Free Case Studies
Articles
Interviews
Book Reviews
Glossary
Online Quiz
More Free Resources >>

Case Related Links

Best Selling Case Studies
Business Case Studies
Learning With Case Studies
Cases Used in Textbooks
Prize Winning Case Studies
More Case Studies >>

Case Studies and Management Resources