Online retail is a fickle business at times, especially with no questions asked returns policies involved. It is a lucrative means of business these days but online selling does have uncertainties that could destroy you.
Handicraft is an age old trade in India. Their beautiful designs and intriguing features make them attractive to many buyers. The thing about handicraft though, it involves hours of labor, experience and expensive quality materials. This increases costs and having them returned means more costs to bear.
The Banarasi Saree Project – What lead to Banarasi Saree Bazaar?
The whole idea behind Banarasi Saree Bazaar was to allow weavers from Varanasi to market their products directly instead of depending on exploitative middlemen. The textile ministry launched this pilot project in 2014, in association with leading ecommerce retailers for the weavers of Varanasi. Less than two years into the project and already those involved were vowing never to take up ecommerce ever again.
Returns are part of online selling, but why has it left such a sour taste in the mouth of so many?
Reasons why Banarasi Saree Bazaar Failed
# Reason one – Deceitful Buyers
Mohammed Aslam, an award winning weaver from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Varanasi consultancy, decided to take up ecommerce. A few months into his business and the losses began to pile up. Aslam couriered Banarasi sarees to a client in Mumbai. The shipment was worth about Rs. 30,000. The client requested to return the products, but what Aslam received were cheap knock offs!
Aslam’s not the only weaver in this predicament. Other weavers who were part of the Banarasi saree project also faced similar if not the same difficulties. Some received frequent product returns and in most cases the returned products were used or replaced with cheaper versions of the actual product.
Devious consumers took advantage of the 7 day return policy, managing to wreck businesses and livelihoods. When sarees are returned, the consumer usually says it’s because the product received does not match the product displayed online, in terms of color and design, says Aslam.
# Reason two – No guarantee of safe product returns
Products being returned is part and parcel of ecommerce. What artisans and craftsmen don’t want to endure is the loss or damage of their goods due to returns. There is no way one can guarantee the products will come back, that too safely! All a seller can do is trust that buyer will do the right thing.
# Reason three – The first experience was a negative experience
A negative experience right at the start can dishearten a seller, especially if they put everything into their trade. Some may say, “So you failed once, why not try again?” In this case trying again will only mean more rogue buyers taking you for a ride. Also if you want to sell online you cannot revoke the consumer’s right to return the product. How else will you get takers for your goods? A Rs. 30,000 order does not mean you’ll earn that much, in online retail it sometimes means you could lose Rs. 30,000.
# Reason four – Ecommerce is latent with uncertainties
Silk saree and home furnishing manufacturer, Maqbool Hassan gave up on ecommerce because of the risks it comes with. Hand woven goods are custom-made and labor intensive, making them expensive. The sale of these goods is very different from products like mobile phones and other electronics. With handicrafts each consumer has different expectations, which means they have more reasons to return these products.
Sarfuddin Ansari another weaver specializes in the making of brocades and scarves has also given up on ecommerce because of the time and effort it takes to create a unique handmade masterpiece, (worth Rs. 8,000 to 1 lakh). It isn’t easy to meet delivery deadlines is a weaver falls ill, he says.
# Reason five – Returns are not feasible in this industry
Handmade sarees and other hand woven goods are part of the cottage industry. When weavers spend so much just to create beautiful sarees, shipping the product to and from customers is not feasible and is an absolute waste of time. They’d rather have consumers personally come and look at their products before buying, if online retailers cannot provide safety and security for their products.
The Potential of the Industry
The potential of the handloom industry is ever growing. Yes people may be using power-looms to make sarees, but the value of hand crafted sarees is not lost. Many are going back to old weaving techniques that did not involve modern technology. The present Prime Minister wants to connect local weavers to the international market through the internet, according to his campaign promises back in 2014.
Many others have participated in attempts to improve the plight of local craftsmen, Recently International online marketplace Amazon partnered with India’s textile ministry to promote handlooms and empower weavers. Paytm launched a ten crore project to promote “make in India” products like handicrafts.eBay is also expected to join the textile ministry as well, in order to empower locals.
New Projects Focused on Local Weavers in Ecommerce
According to Nitesh Dhawan, the assistant commissioner, of Handloom and Textile Industries in the Varanasi region, the government will appoint marketing and merchandise executives to assist weavers in online selling.
He also said that right now a new initiative called Varanasi Mega handloom Cluster scheme would be launched soon. Under the scheme a designer will be responsible for designing a plan and will also manage and market the weaver’s products. This will enable them to concentrate on production more and less on selling.
But without security against theft and damage of goods, weavers find it difficult to see the benefits of online selling.
No comments:
Post a Comment