E-commerce proves profitable for weavers

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Bhubaneswar: Several e-commerce websites are proving to be a boon for many weaver families in the state.
While the private players are also trying to link the weavers to the market, the state government-owned Boyanika is trying to catch up with the market and link the weavers to it so that they can get a fair share in direct sale of their merchandise.
The decision of the state public sector unit to link the weavers through their own e-commerce website is also said to have earned the trust of many customers and even linked them to overseas buyers.
“Last year we did a business of Rs 83 lakh from our e-commerce website alone. Now most of our indigenous handloom products are also finding buyers overseas, thanks to the e-commerce site” a senior official of Boyanika said.
However, the 44 Boyanika stores spread across the country still get most of their buyers and help in bulk business, she added. The other sources of selling the products, she said, are the exhibitions organised across the country regularly.
She said, “We are also holding exhibitions at state, national and international levels. Such handloom products that we are selling through our selling modes include all nine GI tagged products. The total selling of our products last year stood at Rs 94 crore.”
According to the department, such procurement of the products directly from them helps in giving more profits to the weavers. She said, “Through the market linkage we are able to give the weavers compensation which is taking care of their raw materials, labour and profits.”
Saroj Patra, a weaver from Nuapatna, said that the assistance of Boyanika in linking the weavers directly with the market has helped them in improving their business and get assured sales of their handloom products for which they spend months to prepare.
While Boyanika is helping the weavers to link them with the market, the directorate of textiles in the state is helping them with fixing the price to ensure minimum and assured support to the weavers’ centres like Nuapatna, Sambalpur and others. The directorate is also aiding them through training programmes to improve their skills to compete with the contemporary market.