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Tag: Dhruva Chandrie

  • HomeShop18-Shop CJ merger begins to take effect

    HomeShop18-Shop CJ merger begins to take effect

    MUMBAI: When two companies decide to come together, the ramifications are felt by all concerned: internally by employees and externally by vendors and partners. That is exactly what is happening at the Network18-owned teleshopping major HomeShop18 and the previously Providence Equity-CJO Shopping-owned Shop CJ Network. The former had announced that it was acquiring a 76 per cent stake in the latter last month. Since then, the process of integration has been on to derive the benefits of the fusion.

    For starters, CJ Home Shopping’s offices and studios in Mumbai are being shut down. CEO Dhruva Chandrie, who was given the option to shift to Noida, where Home Shop18 has its offices, has decided to part ways, with the caveat that should the new entity need him in Mumbai he was up for it. Former Skechers boss Sanjeev Agarwal, who has been heading Home Shop18 since 2015, will function as the interim CEO of the merged outfit.

    According to sources close to the group, Chandrie is not the only one who has taken the option to discontinue. Several other employees too have decided the same. “Many executives have their families in Mumbai. Relocation is not easy so they decide to quit. Those who can are shifting to the capital,” says a source.

    Sources indicate that it is the Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance group, which is driving the agenda for the two home shopping ventures.

    Sources indicate that the final details of the acquisition of Shop CJ by the megacorp will be out within the next week to a fortnight. Questions that arise are: will Reliance take on all the liabilities should the South Korean home shopping major abstain from doing so as it is only a 26 per cent owner? Or will it honour the liabilities in an equitable manner?

    Employees refused to open up about any developments within HomeShop18 or Shop CJ Network. Chandrie could not be reached, despite efforts by indiantelevision.com to do so. Neither was Sanjeev Agarwal reachable.

    For Reliance, the synergies are immense. The group has a presence in Reliance Retail and buying over the mobile, internet and television home shopping major gives HomeShop18 scale like no other home shopping channel has in India. Apart from the brick and mortar stores, it boasts of many additional outlets – online, mobile and now TV – where it can bring in economies of scale. The Reliance group has also shown that it knows how to handle media and entertainment; allow professionals to run the firms you acquire and give broad directions only. Hence, its two to three year old acquisition Viacom18 has only been going from strength to strength.

    In the case of the Home Shop18-Shop CJ Network (both of which have been doing relatively poor on financials) merger, the tremors are being felt. Hopefully, when these ease, we will get to see a streamlined healthy beast.

  • Shop CJ’s regional space initiatives for revenue boost

    Shop CJ’s regional space initiatives for revenue boost

    MUMBAI: One of the conveniences of modern times is that everything we need or want is available on our television screens and/or is just a call for a click of a button away. The market of television shopping has grown over the years. A study in 2015 stated that the cable and satellite market consists of 140 million (14 crore) households or 650 million (65 crore) people as of December, 2014. In comparison, the number of internet users was estimated at 302 million (30.2 crore).

    Even when everything is switching to mobile, the 24 hour tele-shopping channels still manage to grab a fair share of the market, albeit just a fraction in terms of sales by the eCommerce players, due to television’s humongous reach. The business was estimated to reach revenues of around Rs 5,000 crore by the closure of fiscal 2014.15.

    So far, teleshopping’s bastions were largely limited to late night teleshopping on various channels and a few pure teleshopping channels. But, there was an opportunity to service rural markets that were not being catered to by eCommerce players as yet. The Akshay Kumar – Raj Kundra led teleshopping channel Best Deal TV launched Best Deal TV especially for the Tamil market.

    Among the major players in the teleshopping space, Shop CJ (previously known as Star CJ Alive), has also rolled out regional shopping channels in Telugu and Tamil. The Telugu channel was launched about six months ago and the Tamil entity came to be about two months ago.

    In 2015, Shop CJ held 20 percent of the market share and aimed to increase market share in the future. According to Shop CJ COO Dhruva Chandrie, sales have doubled in 2016. Shop CJ had a turnover of Rs1,200 crore in 2015 Sales have already hiked by 40 percent with orders having grown 52 per cent in 2016. The Shop CJ management team had announced a target of Rs 250 crore by October 2016 from the Telangana and Andhra Pradhesh regions alone. The brand believes that it is on the way to meet the targets since the response as of now has been positive.

    Chandrie revealed that there were high expectations from the venture and around the time of India’s major festival of Diwali, there were plans to bring out a Kannada teleshopping channel as well. He further revealed that setting up a regional channel required completely new production backup facilities to be setup altogether. The production of a regional channel was to done separately in the local language. A new regional channel would cost around Rs 35-40 crores, while setting up a warehouse would cost almost the same.

    The Shop CJ teleshopping network has included regional brands like Butterfly and Preeti among others, along with other many national and international brands in its offerings. Its regional channels have products catering to regional demands and products are sourced from all over the country. Chandrie also revealed that his company was in the process of finalising deals with many television channel distributors in the region and that his network’s products are already available on major DTH and local cable operators. Since the carriage deals are still work-in-progress, Chandrie said that he was not in a position to reveal further details.

    Teleshopping’s largest selling products remain kitchen appliances, followed by IT products, cameras, saris and kurtas. “The channels are on 24×7 and have a wide viewership” said Chandrie.

    In conclusion, Chandirk said that although the channels were at a very initial, a highly nascent stage, his network believed that a higher growth in the regional markets would boost the overall growth of his company and help it gain a higher market share.

  • Shop CJ’s regional space initiatives for revenue boost

    Shop CJ’s regional space initiatives for revenue boost

    MUMBAI: One of the conveniences of modern times is that everything we need or want is available on our television screens and/or is just a call for a click of a button away. The market of television shopping has grown over the years. A study in 2015 stated that the cable and satellite market consists of 140 million (14 crore) households or 650 million (65 crore) people as of December, 2014. In comparison, the number of internet users was estimated at 302 million (30.2 crore).

    Even when everything is switching to mobile, the 24 hour tele-shopping channels still manage to grab a fair share of the market, albeit just a fraction in terms of sales by the eCommerce players, due to television’s humongous reach. The business was estimated to reach revenues of around Rs 5,000 crore by the closure of fiscal 2014.15.

    So far, teleshopping’s bastions were largely limited to late night teleshopping on various channels and a few pure teleshopping channels. But, there was an opportunity to service rural markets that were not being catered to by eCommerce players as yet. The Akshay Kumar – Raj Kundra led teleshopping channel Best Deal TV launched Best Deal TV especially for the Tamil market.

    Among the major players in the teleshopping space, Shop CJ (previously known as Star CJ Alive), has also rolled out regional shopping channels in Telugu and Tamil. The Telugu channel was launched about six months ago and the Tamil entity came to be about two months ago.

    In 2015, Shop CJ held 20 percent of the market share and aimed to increase market share in the future. According to Shop CJ COO Dhruva Chandrie, sales have doubled in 2016. Shop CJ had a turnover of Rs1,200 crore in 2015 Sales have already hiked by 40 percent with orders having grown 52 per cent in 2016. The Shop CJ management team had announced a target of Rs 250 crore by October 2016 from the Telangana and Andhra Pradhesh regions alone. The brand believes that it is on the way to meet the targets since the response as of now has been positive.

    Chandrie revealed that there were high expectations from the venture and around the time of India’s major festival of Diwali, there were plans to bring out a Kannada teleshopping channel as well. He further revealed that setting up a regional channel required completely new production backup facilities to be setup altogether. The production of a regional channel was to done separately in the local language. A new regional channel would cost around Rs 35-40 crores, while setting up a warehouse would cost almost the same.

    The Shop CJ teleshopping network has included regional brands like Butterfly and Preeti among others, along with other many national and international brands in its offerings. Its regional channels have products catering to regional demands and products are sourced from all over the country. Chandrie also revealed that his company was in the process of finalising deals with many television channel distributors in the region and that his network’s products are already available on major DTH and local cable operators. Since the carriage deals are still work-in-progress, Chandrie said that he was not in a position to reveal further details.

    Teleshopping’s largest selling products remain kitchen appliances, followed by IT products, cameras, saris and kurtas. “The channels are on 24×7 and have a wide viewership” said Chandrie.

    In conclusion, Chandirk said that although the channels were at a very initial, a highly nascent stage, his network believed that a higher growth in the regional markets would boost the overall growth of his company and help it gain a higher market share.

  • SR Yoon replaces Kenny Shin as CEO of Shop CJ India

    SR Yoon replaces Kenny Shin as CEO of Shop CJ India

    MUMBAI: Shop CJ Network has announced SR Yoon as the new CEO of Shop CJ India in place of  Kenny Shin, subject to obtaining the necessary approvals from the Government of India.

    Yoon will continue to be based at the headquarters of the parent company CJ O Shopping at  Seoul.                                                                              

    After the recent successful forays of Shop CJ-Tamil and Shop CJ-Telugu on 24×7 home shopping channels with specially designed and customized content for Tamil and Telugu speaking population, Shop CJ CEO Kenny Shin is going back to the parent company CJ O Shopping  Co. Ltd., which is in the midst of major overseas expansion. Yoon will assume responsibilities in his place. 

    “It is undoubtedly very exciting to be in one of the fastest growing markets in the world” said Yoon, who has worked previously with Samsung as CEO Australia and in its marketing division before moving to CJ O Shopping last year.

     Shop CJ India COO Dhruva Chandrie will now take responsibility for overall operational matters of Shop CJ. Additional to the marketing and operations departments, finance, planning, IT and E‐commerce will also report to him. In addition, N. Ramakrishnan has decided to step down as the CFO of the company to pursue other interests. The Board has initiated a search to fill the role of CFO and Shop CJ will have a new CFO soon.

    Commenting on the move Shin said, “The last 4 years in India have been excellent for Shop CJ. I have enjoyed my India stint and it was a period of great learning and achievements.”  Shin has more than 20 years experience in home shopping. He has worked in Korea, US and India. Global giant from South Korea, CJ O follows the policy of rotating its senior leadership assigned with overseas roles. Shin had been instrumental in driving several strategic initiatives at the company and successfully transforming Shop CJ during his tenure in India.

    Shop CJ is slated to achieve more than 900 Crore revenues this fiscal, bettering its earlier estimates of 850 Crore. It started operations six years ago in India. India is one of the fastest growing operations for CJ Network globally.

    Further commenting on the appointment, Yoon said, “I am glad at the prospect of spearheading the India operations for the CJ Network. India is an exciting country, a complex market with huge opportunities and interesting challenges. Shop CJ has a more robust strategy, culture and talent in India than ever before, a must for a sustainably fast growing business. With the continuation of strong leadership, we are poised to grow here. My role would be to enhance the opportunities and reduce the challenges. I believe we will be able to ensure and continue our growth in the market while delivering world-class shopping experience to our customers.”

    Providence Equity Partners Group, investor in Shop CJ, is in full support of the management decisions and is confident on company’s accelerating growth in India foreseeing positive outlook in the market.

  • SR Yoon replaces Kenny Shin as CEO of Shop CJ India

    SR Yoon replaces Kenny Shin as CEO of Shop CJ India

    MUMBAI: Shop CJ Network has announced SR Yoon as the new CEO of Shop CJ India in place of  Kenny Shin, subject to obtaining the necessary approvals from the Government of India.

    Yoon will continue to be based at the headquarters of the parent company CJ O Shopping at  Seoul.                                                                              

    After the recent successful forays of Shop CJ-Tamil and Shop CJ-Telugu on 24×7 home shopping channels with specially designed and customized content for Tamil and Telugu speaking population, Shop CJ CEO Kenny Shin is going back to the parent company CJ O Shopping  Co. Ltd., which is in the midst of major overseas expansion. Yoon will assume responsibilities in his place. 

    “It is undoubtedly very exciting to be in one of the fastest growing markets in the world” said Yoon, who has worked previously with Samsung as CEO Australia and in its marketing division before moving to CJ O Shopping last year.

     Shop CJ India COO Dhruva Chandrie will now take responsibility for overall operational matters of Shop CJ. Additional to the marketing and operations departments, finance, planning, IT and E‐commerce will also report to him. In addition, N. Ramakrishnan has decided to step down as the CFO of the company to pursue other interests. The Board has initiated a search to fill the role of CFO and Shop CJ will have a new CFO soon.

    Commenting on the move Shin said, “The last 4 years in India have been excellent for Shop CJ. I have enjoyed my India stint and it was a period of great learning and achievements.”  Shin has more than 20 years experience in home shopping. He has worked in Korea, US and India. Global giant from South Korea, CJ O follows the policy of rotating its senior leadership assigned with overseas roles. Shin had been instrumental in driving several strategic initiatives at the company and successfully transforming Shop CJ during his tenure in India.

    Shop CJ is slated to achieve more than 900 Crore revenues this fiscal, bettering its earlier estimates of 850 Crore. It started operations six years ago in India. India is one of the fastest growing operations for CJ Network globally.

    Further commenting on the appointment, Yoon said, “I am glad at the prospect of spearheading the India operations for the CJ Network. India is an exciting country, a complex market with huge opportunities and interesting challenges. Shop CJ has a more robust strategy, culture and talent in India than ever before, a must for a sustainably fast growing business. With the continuation of strong leadership, we are poised to grow here. My role would be to enhance the opportunities and reduce the challenges. I believe we will be able to ensure and continue our growth in the market while delivering world-class shopping experience to our customers.”

    Providence Equity Partners Group, investor in Shop CJ, is in full support of the management decisions and is confident on company’s accelerating growth in India foreseeing positive outlook in the market.

  • Shop CJ expands to Telugu market; targets Rs 250 crore revenue from AP, Telangana

    Shop CJ expands to Telugu market; targets Rs 250 crore revenue from AP, Telangana

    MUMBAI: Eyeing a 40 per cent growth in turnover at more than Rs 1200 crore this year, home shopping network Shop CJ has expanded to the South Indian market with the launch of its Telugu language channel with original programming in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

     

    Additionally, the company is expecting to generate revenue of Rs 250 crore from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone by the next fiscal year 2016.

     

    The company’s recorded sales of Rs 850 crore last fiscal and is poised to grow with the rapid growth of the home shopping market in India. The channel reaches over 6.5 crore households across the country and is currently catering to about 40 per cent of the market.

     

    The new Telugu language Shop CJ channel is available across all major cable and will soon also hop on to the Sun Direct direct to home (DTH) platform.

     

    Shop CJ Network CEO Kenny Shin said, “The home shopping industry is growing rapidly and similar trend is witnessed in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh market. With the launch of 24×7 Telugu home shopping channel, we have begun the process of introducing region-specific niche channels. The Telugu channel will not only enhance our customer base, but it will also offer a great platform for regional brands to expand their penetration. We aim to offer new innovative product categories and change the entire home shopping experience.”

     

    Shop CJ Network CFO N. Ramakrishnan added, “Shop CJ’s channel launch in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will strengthen its presence in India. We are expecting to generate Rs 250 crore revenue from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone by the next fiscal year 2016.”

     

    Shop CJ Network COO Dhruva Chandrie said, “Shop CJ Telugu will offer an array of products that are well researched to match local preferences. Our customisation strategy is built on the principle of offering consumers exactly what they want with full comfort and quality assurance. Communicating through the local language will help Shop CJ to consolidate in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.”

  • Shop CJ appoints Dhruva Chandrie as chief sales officer

    Shop CJ appoints Dhruva Chandrie as chief sales officer

    MUMBAI: Home shopping venture Shop CJ Network announces the appointment of Dhruva Chandrie as its chief sales officer. This appointment is key to further enhance the company’s procurement and operations. Chandrie, previously held the position of chief operating officer (COO) for HomeShop18 and has taken charge of his duties. He brings more than 22 years of experience to the role. He will be based out of the Mumbai office.

     

    Chandrie said, “With more players entering the television-commerce market, there is increase in the level of competition. It will be exciting times ahead.”

     

    TV home-shopping is yet to be explored and optimized to its full potential in India. Considering an expected growth rate of 40 per cent and more companies entering the market, the industry is estimated to reach Rs 50,000 crore in the next five years.

     

    Shop CJ CEO Kenny Shin commented, “Dhruva brings a diverse set of leadership skills, extensive operations expertise and a successful track record that we will leverage across the company. His experience and expertise will not only strengthen our organization but will help us grow the company into the number one Home-shopping player in India.”