Government bodies are working to rejuvenate their indigenous art forms, especially textiles by tying up with e-commerce platforms as one of their major brand building exercise.
Hand painted Bhagalpuri silks, traditional ikkats from Orissa, Gadwal silks from Andhra and many more such weaves would soon be available on platforms like Flipkart, Amazon, eBay and others.
While most of the state handloom bodies already have a website of their own to sell their produce, they are now opting for the popularity of established e-commerce platforms to get a wider customer base globally. IndianRoots.com has signed a MoU with the department of Industries, Government of Bihar for a five year agreement.
Under the agreement, IndianRoots would be exclusively selling products from Upendra Maharathi Shilp Anusandhan Sansthan and Banka Silk, a handloom brand from Bihar.
According to IndianRoots CEO Rahul Narvekar, such tie ups give the weaver’s produce an edge over what they would put up for direct selling.
“Just a couple of months back a Bhaglapuri artisan was selling a hand painted sari with the complete tale of Ramayana for just Rs 4000 but we got in touch with the weavers and gave the product our expertise of commercial viability and sold the same series for Rs. 26,000 “ he said.
These sites also come in with their existing loyal clientele. For instance, PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi picks up handcrafted stalls from IndianRoots but wants them straight out of the weaver’s yarn. These tie ups eliminate the role of middlemen and offer the guarantee of original products.
Andhra Pradesh State Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society (APCO) has tied up with Snapdeal, with a MoU.
“All the products that we sell on our own website will be available on Snapdeal alongside a special range of products. “said Johar Basha, MD, APCO.