Home shopping channel Astro Malaysia says its sales have risen 50 per cent between the January and April quarters.

Astro GS Shop is a joint venture between cable TV network operator Astro Malaysia and South Korean multimedia retailer GS Home Shopping Inc.

In the quarter to April 30, Astro says the TV shopping channel achieved RM37 million in sales, or about US$10 million). That’s a full 50 per cent more than in the three months to January 31.

The channel was ‘soft-launched’ last November, with the two partners unsure how Malaysians would take to shopping on TV, especially given the audience was restricted to pay TV subscribers.

Between February and April, Astro GS Shop sold 175,000 items, 55,000 more than between November and January.

The numbers may still be small compared to more mature TV shopping businesses in Korea or Thailand, for example, but it is the momentum which is reassuring the joint venture partners.

“I think the traction is good,” Astro GS Shop CEO Rozalila Abdul Rahman told Digital News Asia.

“When we had our soft launch in November last year, we didn’t know whether the market was ready. So there was no advertising push at all – we just went on the air, and we started to see a lot of people calling in.”

Astro says its customer database expanded from 75,000 to 160,000 during the latest quarter.

The JV operated under the brand Go Shop on a 24-seven dedicated channel on Astro’s pay TV platform, as well as on internet and mobile platforms.

Rozhan predicted last year that Malaysia’s eCommerce sector would be worth RM3.6 billion (US$960 million) by 2020.

After the early success of Go Shop, Astro GS Shop is planning to launch a second channel aimed at Malaysian Chinese residents.

“We hope Astro GS Shop is able to hit RM150 million (US$40 million) in revenue this financial year. In five years, we hope we can grow revenue to RM500 million (US$133 million),” she said.