ABS-CBN invests P200M in home TV shopping

MANILA, Philippines - Multimedia conglomerate ABS-CBN Corp. is pumping in P200 million worth of investments in a partnership with Korea-based home shopping giant CJ O Shopping Corp. to introduce a new TV home shopping lifestyle to Filipino consumers.

ABS-CBN chairman Eugenio Lopez III said the joint venture called A CJ O Shopping Corp. is the company’s reentry into the TV home shopping business after opening Skymall in the 1990s.

 â€œWe closed it down a few years after and walked away with a valuable lesson: We need a strong and competent partner. ABS-CBN is in the business of reaching audiences so we needed a partner in the business of selling great products,” Lopez stressed.

He pointed out that ABS-CBN found the right partner in CJ O Shopping from Korea last year.

 â€œChoosing the CJ Group was not a difficult one since we share a similar history and adhere to the same work culture. Our companies were both founded by families with roots in the sugar industry and were both born exactly 60 years ago,” the ABS-CBN chief said.

For his part, CJ O Shopping chief executive officer Harri Lee believes that the TV home shopping business would soon become a company beloved and trusted by all Philippines’ population and consumers.

 â€œHome shopping business is a complex combination of the retail, broadcasting, logistics, and IT systems. Nevertheless, I express with full confidence that A CJ will succeed through the synergy of A CJ O Shopping’s global business expertise and ABS-CBN’s trusted image and strong influence over the Philippine population,” Lee said.

Paolo Pineda, head of ABS-CBN Business Development, said the joint venture marks the foray of the Lopez-owned company into TV home shopping and seeks to provide its viewers more opportunities for their lifestyle needs.

 â€œSometimes people don’t have the chance to go out and shop for themselves for things they need at home. We are offering consumers better service and better options as life becomes more mobile and hectic,” Pineda stressed.

Pineda explained that the Philippines is a market that is familiar with TV home shopping.

 â€œTV home shopping is not something new to the Filipino consumer. We’ve also noticed the proliferation of online shopping sites which is quite similar to what we want to do, because it’s really about another option to the mall, to your local neighborhood store,” he added.