Amazon.in’s ‘Stand for Handmade' – a 10-week initiative launched in July to help over 10 lakh artisans, weavers, and women entrepreneurs has enabled sellers from Amazon Karigar (for weavers and artisans) and Amazon Saheli (for women entrepreneurs) register 3.2x and 2.1x growth respectively, a top executive told BusinessLine.
Thirty two sellers crossed ₹1 lakh in sales during the 10-week period while two sellers crossed Rs 1 crore in sales. More than 200 new sellers joined the Karigar program and benefited from 100 per cent SoA (sell on Amazon) fee waiver, impacting lives of over 35,000 artisans and weavers.
Pranav Bhasin, Director MSME and Seller Experience at Amazon India said, “The Stand for Handmade initiative is part of our continuous efforts to help small businesses including artisans, weavers and women entrepreneurs to revive their business from the economic disruption caused by the pandemic.”
“We created a ‘Stand for Handmade’ storefront to help generate customer demand for the locally crafted, handmade products from Karigar and Saheli sellers and are humbled by the response to this initiative as customers from more than 12,000 pin codes purchased a product from the specially curated store front. With the festive season coming up, we remain focused on helping our sellers further accelerate and grow their business,” Bhasin said.
He said, the top categories that witnessed highest overall sales included apparel, grocery and home décor. Over 200 Karigar and Saheli sellers witnessed sales for the first time as part of this initiative. Around 508 Sambalpur weaver families from Orissa were able to sell sarees; 4,500 plus Pochampally weavers from Telangana resumed their handloom weaving business; 5,200 plus weavers from Bengal were back to weaving on their looms; 200 Banarasi weavers witnessed sales of handloom dupattas/sarees; and over 10,000 artisans from Chhattisgarh revived through the sale of Bell Metal and Dhokra handicrafts.