MUMBAI: Entrepreneur Raj Kundra and Bollywood action star Akshay Kumar owned Best Deal TV, recently signed a deal with e-commerce giant Amazon. The deal marked conglomeration of e-tailing and home shopping industries which by far was considered as subtle competitor to each other.
Launched exclusively for the southern part of the country, Best Deal TV since its launch has continued its series of innovations.
The deal with Amazon opens up avenues of expansion for the newly launched home-shopping channel, feels Kundra. He tells Indiantelevision.com, “We wanted to reach out to a completely different and new clientele. Since our product offering was also unique, we pitched the offer to the head of Amazon and after the first meeting they were convinced it would be a great partnership.”
The experimental deal has been signed for a trial period of one year. Other than gaining reach, Best Deal TV, through the association, will look to yield benefit from Amazon’s robust logistics network along with co-branding through new marketing strategies.
“On 26 June, we dominated the front page of Amazon with a video and big Best Deal TV banner. Separately, Amazon will be marketing our products on its site and we will be driving traffic to our brand store on Amazon,” Kundra informs.
Best Deal TV, as per recent reports, had fetched Rs 3 crore in the first month of its operation.
Speaking on the sales and target Kundra asserts, “We have not set any sale targets for this venture as this is more about creating a customer experience which will eventually add up to sales. So far we have been consistent and seen a 10 per cent month-on-month growth.”
A veteran from the home shopping industry on condition of anonymity says, “It’s a smart way to enhance your reach. Multi system operator (MSO) Den and e-commerce player Snapdeal did it in the past and now Best Deal TV and Amazon. We will see more and more of such deals happening. But what is the turnover from the deal will be something to observe. For example on television when a headphone is showcased for sale you don’t have 10 other headphones from six different brands popping up which happens on Amazon or Flipkart or Snapdeal. So, this will be an added challenge to deal with. In my opinion reach and marketing opportunities are the positive part of the deal but other available products of same genre will test Best Deal TV’s product.”
Another expert from the home shopping space asserts, “Best Deal TV acquired a lot of goods from different brands which it is not being able to sell though its channel and hence it has tied up with Amazon. The deal will help them clear the stock as Amazon has massive presence but the margin of profit would be different. So to me it looks like a damage control deal.”
