Hosting a dedicated flagship sale-event, Crafted by Bharat for Flipkart Samarth partners on Jan 26, marking the occasion of India’s Republic Day
An increasing number of small businesses, artisans, weavers, and handicraft makers in India are adopting e-commerce, realizing the convenience and growth opportunities it offers. Flipkart, India’s homegrown e-commerce marketplace, continues to provide these businesses with access to a nationwide market, operational support, consumer insights, and business counseling through the Flipkart Samarth program to ensure that their onboarding onto the e-commerce marketplace and subsequent business operations are quick and smooth.
Flipkart Samarth, launched in 2019 with the aim of bringing India’s artisans, weavers and micro-enterprises into the e-commerce fold, is today making a positive difference to over a million livelihoods. Karnataka is among the states with the highest rates of adoption of e-commerce by small businesses. The Flipkart Samarth platform witnessed a 1.7x growth in its seller base in the State this year as compared to last. Bangalore, Mysore, Dharwad and Ramanagaram were the top cities contributing to this growth. The top-performing product categories by artisans, weavers and handicraft makers in Karnataka included Home Décor, Grooming, Toys, and Women’s Ethnic wear.
Flipkart is now hosting a first-ever dedicated Flipkart Samarth sale event – ‘Crafted by Bharat’, to be held on January 26, marking the occasion of India’s Republic Day. The event will focus on celebrating India’s rich culture and heritage by showcasing the wide range of handicrafts and handlooms from across the country.
Manjushree N. – IAS, Mission Director, Karnataka State Livelihood Mission said, “Karnataka State Livelihood Mission is working on digital empowerment of women entrepreneurs to breach the geographical barrier in marketing and tap the potential of ever growing e-commerce industry, in association with Flipkart. In the coming days, more women entrepreneurs and their products will be onboarded with the support of the Flipkart team. This exposure, learning and handholding will help rural self-help group women in Karnataka under NRLM to earn more value for their efforts and lead better lives.”
Under the Samarth program, Flipkart works with several Government entities, livelihood missions and NGO partners to onboard rural entrepreneurs onto its platform. In the year 2020, Flipkart signed an MoU with the Department of MSME and Mines of the Government of Karnataka to enable local artisans, weavers and craftsmen to reach Flipkart’s pan-India customer base of over 400 million. This partnership saw renowned Karnataka-based brands such as Cauvery Crafts and Priyadarshini Handlooms, which are a part of Karnataka Handlooms Development Corporation, joining Flipkart Samarth.
Flipkart is further making the e-commerce experience seamless, with the Flipkart app available in 11 Indian language interfaces including Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali and more. Through this, Flipkart is truly bringing technology to democratize and empower the under-served sections of society.
