Amazon India launches ‘Karigar’ to celebrate the spirit of artisans on the eve of National Handloom Day

On the eve of National Handloom Day, Amazon announced the launch of the Karigar store on Amazon.in. With this launch, Amazon Karigar is one of the largest stores to feature a wide range of authentic crafts from Indian artisans. Amazon Karigar showcases over 55,000 products, including 270+ unique arts and crafts from 20 states. The diverse range of products come with interesting stories of their own, like the Sambalpuri sarees in Ikat weave, available in mesmerizing colours and a unique weaving style that employs resist dyeing technique to impart colors to the yarns before their interlacement. Many products in the store shares such interesting stories which will leave customers awestruck reading about the history and the making process of these artefacts.

Amazon Karigar will give prominence to India’s rich handicrafts heritage by enabling weavers and artisans to showcase ‘Made in India’ products to customers. It will exclusively promote handlooms and handicrafts from across the country, in line with Amazon’s vision of transforming the way India buys and sells. The logo for Amazon Karigar has been creatively designed as a ‘thumbprint’ depicting coming together of lines symbolizing the diversity, authenticity, rich culture and uniqueness of the products from all regions of India. By the end of the year, the store will display crafts from all regions in India, and this unique aspect of Amazon Karigar is reflected in the logo as well.

To encourage and foster adoption of handmade crafts, Amazon is offering customers a wide range of deals and discounts across various products by artisans and weavers, such as Bengal handloom sarees by TJ Sarees Pochampally ikat dress materials by GB Handlooms, Banarasi dupattas and dress materials by Kashi Fancy Sarees, Jaipur blue pottery decorative items by Aditya Blue Art Pottery and authentic tribal made handloom products by Tribes India amongst other handmade artefacts. From Banarasi brocades to hand painted Madhubani sarees, and hand knotted Ilkal sarees (in practice for more than 1200 years) - this National Handloom Day, all handloom and handicraft lovers can head to Amazon Karigar, and pick their choice of products curated from different parts of India, enjoy the distinct and beautiful stories of many of the crafts and products, and make a remarkable contribution towards their revival of these indigenous art forms.

Amazon Karigar encourages the revival of indigenous arts and crafts, while providing local sellers a platform to list and sell their merchandise online to a larger consumer base. The program aims to empower local sellers and SMB’s by helping them list and sell their products on Amazon India. With an extensive range of exceptional craft forms which includes authentic merchandise with stunning, intricate designs from national award weavers, Amazon Karigar offers an unmatched craftsmanship with a wide reach and selection.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Gopal Pillai, Vice President, Seller Services, Amazon India said; “At Amazon, we are committed to providing weavers and craftsmen of all sizes and scale easy access to a comprehensive suite of offerings to help them expand their business. The eve of National Handloom Day is perfectly suited to launch Amazon Karigar which is in alignment with Amazon’s sustained efforts to contribute to the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative. Through the Karigar program, we are engaging with government and handicraft bodies across

the country, training craftsmen to embrace online selling and enabling them to sell to a wide consumer base. We believe in working backwards from the customer and innovating on their behalf, and as a result Amazon Karigar offers an unmatched and authentic selection of handloom and handicraft products for individuals to choose from. It is remarkable to note that the average sales of weavers on Amazon Karigar has increased by 4X YoY. Over time, we aim to expand our seller base and selection, to support newer local art forms benefitting both craftsmen and consumers in the process”.

For the past 3+ years, the Kala-Haat initiative has brought onboard artisans and weavers across India on the online platform. Through this initiative, we have on-boarded more than 2400 master weavers, co-operatives, artisans and APEX bodies (including National Award-winning weavers) to sell online and making a difference in the lives of over 7.7 lakh weaver community across 22 states and union territories. We have also partnered with 13 Government Emporiums and 5 Government bodies to showcase authentic crafts to craft lovers and increase the market connectivity of the artisans. We have taken the initiative to next level with the launch of Karigar store, where the craft covers do not just see the products but can also read about the amazing stories.

“Getting the right value and recognition for my products was a struggle for the longest time. Initially, when I was approached by an Amazon.in executive to sell my products online, I was unsure about how to sell online and if my products would be bought by consumers. Once I was introduced and coached through the online selling process, I realized how easy it was to register and sell on Amazon.in. I overcame my fears and expanded my business on the marketplace. I was delighted to see the immediate traction and overwhelming response to my products. In the last 6 months I have fulfilled more than 900 orders and have had sales of close to 1 million rupees,” said Mr. G.Harish, Owner of G.B Handlooms from Pochampally near Hyderabad who sells Pochampally Ikkat Dress Materials on Amazon.in.

Amazon India has been giving an enormous push to the weaver community to get online at lightning speed. Through its on-ground partner Prione, Amazon India has been conducting workshops across the country, penetrating deeper into various weaver clusters to educate, train and onboard thousands of weavers and craftsmen and put forward the real ‘Make in India’ offering to its customers. For more information on the Karigar store, please click on the following link –www.amazon.in/Karigar