TV home shopping has basked in a sales surge in the nation’s retail industry thanks to its appeal to many Korean shopaholics with its price competitiveness and entertainment quality.

The beginning of this prosperous industry and culture followed in the steps of the Western home shopping advertisements that are more informative than entertaining. Even the pioneer show hosts of major Korean home shopping channels still say that, back then, they were not sure why home shoppers would order clothes without even trying them on.

But the Korean TV home shopping companies have developed a unique style of hosting the shows. A strong emotional bond between the hosts and the customers is the main strategy for present Korean TV home shopping shows. Consumers of these days want to see the show hosts, rather than attractive models, wearing the products and hear them talk casually as though they are close friends.

TV home shopping now takes after an entertainment show, titling the announcers of home shopping advertisements “show hosts.” Accordingly, the hosts are dubbed “shoptainers,” a combination of “shopping” and “entertainer.”

“We are the frontrunners of our home shopping shows,” show host Kim Dong-eun of Hyundai Home Shopping said. One of the firm’s top-notch show hosts, she recently sold 6,000 sets of sweaters for 400 million won ($370,000) in just 40 minutes, during the Saturday morning show that has long been considered a sales-blower before she took the helm.

“Our partner companies manufacture products and the company organizes the show programs, but it is the show hosts that directly interact with our customers,” she said.

One of the nation’s first show hosts, Kim agreed that Korean home shopping shows now allow much more freedom in their motion and talking manners. Where the show hosts were asked to perform in a fixed position and stare at the camera like news anchors in the past, now the cameras follow the steps of the show hosts who walk all over the studio to better present the products.

Not all show hosts become successful like Kim, however. In general, show hosts and home shopping firms renew annual payment contracts every year, and there is a huge gap between the annual salaries of a best-selling show host and a poor-selling show host, Kim said.

She admitted that low sales performance leads to less work shifts and unpopular time slots, which eventually cuts down on income. Many struggling show hosts leave the field after their finances worsen, she said.

The show host stressed that the job’s glamorous image belies its cold-cut performance-based principles. She acknowledged that the hardest part of all show hosts probably is to meet the ever-increasing sales goal of their enthusiastic companies.

“I feel extremely depressed as well when I don’t see enough orders on the real-time indicator during my show,” she calmly said. “But we cannot always make record-high sales, and there naturally are times of the year when sales are doomed to slow down, regardless of the length of your career.”

Kim advised that strong mental durability and teamwork are the two fundamentals for show hosts.

“While there is a joke ‘performance is your value’ among show hosts, we all know that blaming others for poor sales spoils the entire project,” she said.

Having entered the show hosting career relatively late ― 34, barely lingering on the then-existing age limit ― she expressed her affection for the home shopping industry as one of the nation’s first generation show hosts.

Kim said that Korea’s home shopping industry is still on the rise with an emphasis on the “entertainment” side of the show. Many home shopping shows would hire TV celebrities to secure a higher audience rating and possibly more orders.

Some of these celebrities include CJ O Shopping show host Wang Young-eun and Lotte Home Shopping show host Choi Yu-ra. Wang achieved a 300 billion won sales record for five years, and Choi reaped about 200 billion won sales in three years.

By Chung Joo-won (joowonc@heraldcorp.com)