Fubon Financial Holding Co (
Its home shopping TV station "momo," a symbol for "more and more," as shown on its pink logo, will start test runs next month ahead of the formal launch in January next year.
"As suggested in our trademark, we aim to provide more services and more merchandise choices, including financial products, with the help of the holding company's solid capital and professional background," said Jean Chen (
Fubon, which is slated to launch its all-digital studio valued at NT$200 million this Friday, faces a challenge in its biggest rival, Eastern Home Shopping Network (
Eastern Home Shopping started providing television-shopping services at the end of 1999 and has expanded its business scope into broadcasting, catalogue sales and the Internet. The company has started trial broadcasts for its fourth and fifth TV channels this month, and plans to formally launch the two at the same time as Fubon's channel early next year.
"Although varieties of the merchandise will be similar to those of Eastern, to cover everything from luxury goods, travel packages, 3C [ie, consumer electronics, computers and communications] products to healthcare commodities, we will bring in better brands to achieve a market segmentation," Chen said.
Fubon has allied with South Korea's third-largest TV shopping operator, Woori, to sell its popular own-brand products here.
The strategic cooperation also makes it possible for Fubon's local suppliers to gain exposure for their products through Woori to markets outside Taiwan, which creates an incentive for suppliers to join the channel, she said.
Fubon targets first-year sales of NT$5 billion, 10 times bigger that Eastern's NT$500 million in its first 12 months, and will extend the business to the Internet in June, Chen said.
The high sales target is based on the maturity of the TV shopping market, she said, as it has become widely accepted way to purchase products, with women aged between 30 and 40 constituting the bulk of the customer base.
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