THE Singles Day online shopping extravaganza this week may have been a digital buying spree for the young, but for Xu Ziyan, 67, and other older folks, the best bargain-hunting is on TV shopping channels all year around.

For seven years, the retired teacher has been buying items like kitchen pans, shoes, underwear, watches, food and cosmetics from home shopping channels in Shanghai.

Recently, she spent 700 yuan (US$111) on a set of jade jewelry from the Oriental CJ channel.

“It was a big bargain compared with almost twice the price at jewelry stores,” she said. “The jewelry was delivered to my home the next day, just in time for me to give it to my niece as a wedding gift.”

For many elderly people, the Internet, the gadgetry to connect to it and the myriad online payment systems are too complicated. Television is familiar and shopping shows are convenient, straightforward and economical, if you know what you are doing.

“Smartphones are difficult for old people like us to use,” Xu said. “We still don’t know how to shop online or send e-mails. We’re more used to TV shopping, which doesn’t need so much expertise.”

It is easy. A buyer need only phone the hotline of a shopping channel and order. Most of the time, it’s cash on delivery.

Xu said many of her retired friends, like her, regard television shopping as an integral part of their daily lives. They often compare notes and recommend good bargains.

China’s first Summit Forum on China TV Home Shopping, held recently, highlighted how the television shopping market is holding its own in the era of cyber retailing.

China is now home to about 30 home shopping TV channels, according to industry figures released at the forum. Last year, merchandise valued at 35 billion yuan was sold via television. That compares with an estimated 13 trillion yuan sold online.

“Our Oriental CJ accounted for about 25 percent of sales,” said Wang Jianjun, president of Shanghai Media Group. “Sales have also shown double-digit growth in the first half of this year.”

In addition to food, clothing and household commodities, shopping channels have moved into higher-cost products and services, including diamonds, cars, overseas travel packages, wedding banquets, education and even real estate.

The channels are structured to make shopping entertaining. Each program lasts around 30 minutes, highlighting the hottest and latest products. Discounts and gifts are often offered on each product purchased.

Oriental CJ is one of the largest home shopping companies in China. Lin Baobao, a local woman in her 60s, said it’s her favorite shopping channel. She typically leaves her TV on when she’s home, even when she’s busy doing housework.

“I can’t walk very far, so shopping in stores is difficult for me,” Lin said. “Television shopping is an ideal way for me to see what’s available, get quick information on products and watch while their functions are demonstrated.”

Lin’s only daughter is married and living in Taiwan. In a sense, the TV shopping channel has become a companion that helps ease loneliness.

“Shopping is good therapy,” she said. “It makes people, especially women, happier and less stressed.”

TV shopping shows, much like online retailing, aren’t free of suspect gimmicks. Some shopping channels have been criticized by netizens for exaggerated product claims and misleading presentations by show anchors. In short, they complain that older people are often hoodwinked by slick marketing.

A netizen who calls herself “gyw1108” said on the popular website forum Liba Club that she bought a wool underblanket for her mother from a shopping channel. When it was delivered, it turned out to be much smaller than advertised. She said it took her several days and persistent argument with the channel’s customer service representative to return the product and get a full refund.

Suspect gimmicks

Netizen “dom-blue” said many items her mother buys via home shopping channels end up dumped in drawers.

“My mom is such a huge fan of television shopping that she can’t pass any discounted items, especially those with slick TV presentations,” she said. “But she doesn’t always need or use what she buys, so it’s money wasted.”

Some younger people joke that they are truly the “victims” of television shopping because they are the ones who answer the door when deliveries are made and pay for the items their mothers or mothers-in-law have ordered.

“I am considering deleting the home shopping channels from our TV set because my parents are addicted to them,” Jessie Lu, a local advertising manager says jokingly. “I know how it happens. With a slick presentation and photography and glib-talking TV sales anchors, middle-aged and older viewers are easily sucked into buying things.”

Zhang Jiayan is one of those anchors. He is a veteran presenter on the Global Home Shopping channel. In a media interview, he said he and his colleagues spend a lot of time learning about products and preparing their pitches. Some anchors take courses on jewelry valuation and food nutrition in their leisure time.

Zhang said the job can even be hazardous because of the sharp knife blades and boiling oil used when demonstrating some kitchen products.

Professor Gu Xiaoming, a sociologist from Fudan University, said it’s easy to understand why elderly people get attached to shopping channels.

“Television shopping is directed at a class of people who are sensitive to price and product functions,” Gu said. “It also satisfies old people’s emotional needs.”

How much competition really exists between TV shopping channels and online retailing?

Xu Hui, president of Oriental CJ, said TV shopping tends to attract people who aren’t sure what, if anything, they want to buy, whereas online shopping tends to cater to those who are looking for something specific.

“That means we need to explore their potential needs for products and present merchandise in a high-quality format,” he said. “Products have to be competitive in quality, price and concept. Some of them can really transform daily lifestyles.”

Many home shopping channels are considering the idea of merging their TV platforms with online sites to extend the age range of target audiences.

Huang Yanrong, general manager of CCTV Shopping Co, said convergence of traditional and Internet media is now a hot trend, and there’s no reason why TV shopping channels can’t also operate mobile apps and provide shopping services through WeChat.