Bought it from home!

As your daily soap ends, comes suddenly a miniature globe zooming in ,out and then settling itself on one of the corners of the television possibly reading “Asian sky shop”, what followed were the appearances of American presenters in all so funny and rhyming dubbed voices  selling you some or the other kitchen appliances or even a fold-able sofa set!

This is how the ‘direct response television marketing’ started in India and that was the time when India was young in the globalized market and thus no matter how much the dubbed smiling lady on the phone with the 800 numbers appeared with offers and acceptance of visa and master card we rarely heard people buying any of the products ‘as seen on TV’.

This form of marketing was not so rampant due to its newness, low trust in this form of marketing, and the type of products offered and soon they started becoming the butt of jokes and with the new wave of satellite television and the de-westernization of our country, the dubbed Americans vanished from the scene with the occasional Korean models and their surprised reactions to the successful skin whitening soaps.

Change happened but for the worse, wws sky shop, telebrands, teleshop started selling sauna belts, ab king pro, shree yantra , roop amrit and toolkits .These remained unpopular due to their wacky utilities and more than fake advertising  which even the Indians actors like Govinda ,Jacky shroff ,Shweta Tewari or our Shakti man-Mukesh Khanna couldn't save.

But with the recent large scale use of cell phones along with widespread use of the internet the society has started going virtual with plastic money being used vigorously minus the earlier scare. And in the recent years with the launch of 24 hours dedicated home shopping channels like star cj alive and home shop 18, television advertised sales have rocketed like never before. With the technology the online shopping portals have seen a positive response with shopnineteen ,lenskart, amazon, fashionara and various other having strong virtual presence.

The featured products in this arena compared to the earlier times have seen a tremendous change with not only daily use home appliances but also sports gear, apparels, furniture, electronics, healthcare, beauty, cleaning, jewellery and footwear. With these amazing varieties the channels also offer discounts and offers including various free goodies .The products are still featured with detailed demo but minus the fake audience .The payment options have also improved with choices for cash on delivery, online payment through credit, debit or net banking. Not only this , the option for returning the product once bought has also been introduced for the benefit of the customer .And like an icing on the cake these channels not only sell foreign or new brands but also popular and trusted and high selling ones .

This form of shopping has gained a new prominence with the society welcoming it with open arms. For all those who fear the future of the stores in your area or the malls, let me compare this to the e-book and hardcopy phenomenon, no-one can compete with the original touch and feel

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Call it lazy nature, comfort at home, frequent gifting tradition or the attractive offers, shopping from home is on the rise , and I think even you have been a part of this market . Is that a no? Well what are you waiting for , go ...I mean stay ,buy and get a dose of that retail therapy!