Six TV Home Shopping Companies Join Forces to Boost Sales of Regional Agricultural and Marine Products Blocked by COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] TV home shopping is stepping up to help farms struggling due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

The Korea TV Home Shopping Association announced on the 21st that its six member companies (GS, CJ, Hyundai, Lotte, NS, Home&Shopping) will conduct a total of 54 sales broadcasts from May to June to expand sales channels for local agricultural and marine products affected by COVID-19. Each home shopping company will schedule and broadcast between 3 to 31 times, and they are currently negotiating with about 20 companies for additional scheduling until October.

The broadcasts target companies selected from eight metropolitan local governments including Chungnam, Gyeongnam, Jeonnam, recommended by the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, or discovered through regional entry briefings conducted by the TV Home Shopping Association or each home shopping company in Gangwon, Gyeongbuk, Jeonbuk, and Chungbuk. A total of 34 companies will participate, with 18 broadcasts from Jeonnam, 15 from Chungnam, 8 from Gangwon, and other local governments having at least 2 broadcast opportunities each. Products that are usually hard to find on home shopping broadcasts such as Gatkimchi, Cheonggukjang, Siraegi, salted seafood, shellfish, and seaweed will be showcased. Companies that face difficulties in home shopping broadcasts due to insufficient supply have also been listed on internet malls.

To enable urgent scheduling and broadcasting, the usual barriers for entering home shopping have been significantly lowered. Through each company's ‘social contribution broadcast’ system, partner companies either pay no commission fees or only basic costs such as shipping and card fees. When only basic costs are paid, the fee is less than half of the industry’s average commission rate.

The broadcasts supporting local agricultural and marine products are the result of discussions on supporting COVID-19 affected companies and regions held via video conference between Minister of Science and ICT Choi Ki-young and home shopping representatives on the 3rd of last month.

Last month, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said, “The home shopping industry plans to specially schedule broadcasts for local specialty agricultural and marine products in May. I appreciate the home shopping industry for their cooperation in broadcasting, drastically lowering commissions, and prepaying funds considering the difficult local circumstances,” encouraging the positive role of TV home shopping in the untact (non-face-to-face) consumption era.

Cho Soon-yong, Chairman of the TV Home Shopping Association, said, “TV home shopping functions as a distribution and broadcasting platform that can evenly distribute large quantities nationwide without direct contact with customers,” adding, “The industry is working together to demonstrate its value during this national crisis.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.