Traditional handloom tapped into the potential of modern e-commerce sites during the pandemic. By Sanjay Desai
India’s handlooms and handicrafts, unique to various communities within the country, represent its rich cultural heritage. Handloom products, from Pashmina Shawls of Jammu and Kashmir, Ikkat of Odisha, Kanchipuram Saris of Tamilnadu, Lucknow’s Chikan and Zardozi to Assam’s Eri and Muga Silks, have been preserving the colourful and vibrant culture for over 2000 years.
M N Upadhyay in his book Handicrafts of India wrote the most fitting description of Indian handmade craft and textile: “To write about Indian handicrafts is almost like writing about the country itself. So vast, complex, colourful yet simple and charm, difficult to attain under comparable conditions.”
The social and economic importance Indian handloom industry is enormous as well. It creates 95 per cent of the world’s handmade textiles, making a hefty contribution to the economy. It also remains the second-largest employment provider for the rural population after agriculture. According to the Handloom Export Promotion Council, a statutory body constituted under the Ministry of Textiles, about 4.3 million people directly derive their livelihood from the handloom industry.
Despite its cultural, social, and economic significance, handlooms have been on a decline. In the last few decades, economic liberalisation, globalisation, rapidly increasing industrialisation have affected the handloom and handicrafts industry. There’s is a substantial difference between the time consumed in the production of cloth by the handloom industry and the powerloom industry. It takes months to design and weave a beautiful Chanderi silk sari while machine-made saris are weaved within days. Thus, cheaper powerloom products dominate the market.
The traditional industry also suffers due to supply chain inefficiencies, lack of branding and marketing. The middlemen and retailer of handloom products receive three to 10 times the price paid to weavers and artisans. The craftsmen, renowned for their hand-spinning, weaving and printing elegance, struggle to make ends meet. The skills are passed on from one generation to another but lack of income and dignity of labour has been deterring the younger generation from working in this industry. The unorganised and informal nature of the craft heritage has left it on the verge of dying.
The pandemic effect
During the COVID-19 pandemic, people, wary of contracting the virus, rarely stepped out of their homes and started shopping online. This dealt a heavy blow to local weavers, who earn their living by selling to tourists in fairs and exhibitions. Export earnings also fell drastically during the prolonged lockdown. India has been the second-largest exporter of handloom products in the world. It exported US$ 353.9 million worth of handloom products, but between April to August 2020 slid to US$ 66.26 million.
Online platforms to the rescue
Today, building an online presence is essential for both traditional and modern players. And, during the pandemic, it became more apparent than ever before. E-commerce has been helping artisans regain their footing for the past few years. The Department of Handlooms and Textiles, Government of India, engaged nine e-commerce players and 70 retailers to increase the reach of handlooms products. These online platforms together generated handloom sales of Rs 1.06 crore in 2015-16 and Rs 7.07 crore in 2016-17, increasing to Rs 9.54 crore in 2017-18.
E-commerce giant Amazon expanded its footprint in India’s handloom industry, adding pure handloom and handicraft items of Weavesmart, an online handloom store supported by the Government of India on its app and website. It made more than 20,000 handloom products available to millions of customers. “We have been engaging with cooperatives (like Khadi Nation). Consumers from cities as far as Port Blair (Andaman and Nicobar Islands), Kullu (Himachal Pradesh), Guwahati (Assam) and Chhatarpur (Madhya Pradesh) are shopping for products such as Ilkal saris. There is still plenty of potentials that can be unlocked from artisans and craftsmen across the country,” said an Amazon spokesperson. Flipkart’s art house or social marketplace GoCoop has been beneficial for local craftsmen and weavers.
Online selling platforms proved to be a lifeboat for traditional artisans during the lockdown months. Besides providing local weavers with a platform to showcase their handiwork, these platforms have extended their support to those suffering from lack of resources. They are collaborating with artisans, promoting their products and helping them improve their brand visibility and reach. With e-commerce, they have made their way in every nook and corner of the country, meeting buyers who appreciate and value their artwork.
The road ahead
The future of the Indian handloom and handicrafts industry looks promising. The global demand for handmade products is growing rapidly, owing to an increase in tourism and the propensity of gifting unique products and interest in using eco-friendly, sustainable clothing and accessories.
The current generation of artisans has grasped this opportunity to gain more traction in both domestic and international markets. Their focus is on curation and product development, meeting quality standards, branding and marketing to grow through online channels. They are also bringing a modern twist to traditional handloom garments and handicrafts, making them more appealing to Gen Y and Z.
With e-commerce uniting the fragmented population of artisans and weavers, eliminating middlemen and making a wide variety of well-made handloom products at fair prices directly from weavers, the Indian handloom and handicrafts industry is expected to see an upward growth trajectory. It’s expected to reach USD 60 billion by 2024.
The pandemic brought the significance of e-commerce in India, shifting consumer taste and preferences. And the shift has been permanent. Online shopping platforms continue to see a growing number of shoppers every day. With e-commerce boosting sales in the forthcoming years, the craft-heritage is set to regain its former glory.
(The writer is the director of an e-commerce site.)
