India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace, Flipkart, is gearing up for the 8th edition of its flagship festive event, The Big Billion Days and is working actively with its Flipkart Samarth artisans, weavers and handicraft makers to enable their livelihoods and business growth.
This season, the artisans and weavers who are part of the programme have curated a special line of products under the theme ‘Artforms of India’ as they tap into the pan-India consumer base who shop online during the festive season.
Flipkart Samarth, designed to democratise e-commerce through technology and build a sustainable and inclusive platform for the under-served, domestic communities, has been working with Government entities, livelihood missions and NGO partners.
Since last year, the programme witnessed 7x growth in sales and now impacts 9,50,000 livelihoods by providing them with greater market opportunities and hand-holding them as they get comfortable with digital commerce.
Last year, the artisans who were a part of Flipkart’s annual festive event saw a 2.5x increase in their revenue compared to the non-festive period.
This year, ‘Artforms of India’ will bring to consumers products from across the country that has a rich cultural heritage and high regional significance.
“With a larger number of beneficiaries associated with us this festive season, we are looking forward to giving them an inclusive platform where they can showcase their diverse products, through a dedicated storefront and collection. Our aim is to ensure that Indian consumers, while making a purchase, are able to envision their contribution in impacting the livelihoods of these communities,” Jagjeet Harode, Senior Director and Head – Marketplace, Flipkart, said.
Artforms of India’ will see a limited edition of 28 products, curated by partners such as Garvi Gurjari, one of the largest emporiums from the western region, impacting close to 2,000+ artisans across the state; Tribes India (TRIFED) from the Tribal Welfare Ministry that is responsible for promoting and marketing products made by tribal craftsmen across the country and impact close to 3,50,000 tribals in India, and NULM, the country-wide livelihood generation programme that works with close to 500+ self-help groups and supports the promotion of their handmade and traditional products.
With each product, Flipkart will be taking its consumers on a historical journey, educating them on where the product comes from and giving them a peek into the lives of the people who create and manufacture them.
E-commerce is potentially going to witness 23 per cent higher sales this year, as compared to last year – driven by strong consumer funnel expansion and higher adoption of online shopping post-COVID across categories, as per Redseer’s e-commerce festive season report.
This gives a massive opportunity for local artisans and weavers to benefit from e-commerce consumer demand, and help them further generate greater livelihood impact.