April 20, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] CJ O’Shopping announced on Feb. 5 that the company turned to black in Thailand last year for the first time since it started business five years ago.

In June 2012, CJ O’Shopping jointly established a home shopping operating firm GCJ with Thai media conglomerate GMM Grammy.

The total amount that GCJ sold increased by 14 percent on-year to 65 billion won (US$ 59.61 million) and its operating profit posted 200 million won in 2017. 

When CJ O’Shopping first started business in 2012, the company set a goal to post a net profit by 2016. However, the goal was difficult to reach due to economic instability in Thailand caused from the occurrence of political and social events such as the 2014 Thailand coup, the 2015 Bangkok bombing and King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s death in 2016.

Despite this unfavorable business environment, GCJ successfully posted a surplus through using both localized strategy and know-hows from operating in Korea. Out of more than 300 employees in GCJ, only four are Korean, including the GCJ CEO Sung Nak-jae, while all the other workers were hired in Thailand. CJ O’Shopping also invited around 10 employees to the Korean headquarters and trained them. Moreover, the company also launched three live programs that are broadcast daily, which is unusual in Thailand. During this live programs the company’s sales per hour doubled.

“We will differentiate our products, establish a new business model and strengthen the competitiveness of our broadcasting contents, to continue showing a surplus this year,” GCJ CEO said in a statement.

CJ O’Shopping has been shutting down some of its money losing foreign businesses to focus more on profitable markets like Thailand. Last year, CJ O’Shopping sold all the shares of its Indian business to Indian home shopping giant HomeShop18. CJ O’Shopping’s Indian unit reportedly showed a combined loss of 60.3 billion won, which is the largest amount among its foreign units. According to sources, the firm is also considering selling it money losing business units in China and Turkey.

By Song Seung-hyun (ssh@heraldcorp.com)