Snapdeal partners with India Post to help artisans sell products online to a wider market

E-marketplace operator, Snapdeal.com launched a pilot with India Post to set-up facilitation desks at Varanasi post offices to enable local weavers sell through its platform thus providing access to millions of Indians who aspire to own traditional Banarasi weaves. Through this association, weavers will be able to access the national audience by listing their products on Snapdeal, at negligible cost. The post offices will act as a dropping point for sellers, and India Post will deliver it to the buyers.

Snapdeal will create an ‘India Post’ store to feature the associated sellers exclusively while also sharing its expertise in fashion and market insights with these weavers to help them create designs and products appealing to buyers across the country.

According to Kunal Bahl, CEO and co-founder, Snapdeal.com, India has a number of unique and highly specialised art forms and weaves. “However with the fast changing fashion trends and readily available products we are losing out on this rich heritage. If we don’t act now, soon the rich designs and weaves will become extinct.

“Through this partnership we will take the Banarasi weaves to customers in all corners of the country and extend this platform to include more weavers and artisans of our country. India Post is the perfect partner for us as they not only have the reach but are also as committed as we to preserve and grow our traditional crafts and weaver ecosystem,” said Bahl.

India Post is world’s most widely distributed postal system with 154,866 post offices all over the country and 466,903 employees. The department with its huge network has taken up the role to serve as an agency for not just delivering products, but also playing a vital role in the cash on delivery (COD) segment.

India Post’s cash handling services like core banking solutions, money transfer and a robust account system can further help e-commerce firms in collecting cash from users in urban as well as rural areas. In the past, India Post has associated with Snapdeal, to reach out to the philatelists to offer stamps priced between Rs 300 and Rs 5,500.

Apparel pips electronics
An online shopping search trends report for 2014 by Junglee.com (search and comparison site for shoppers), has revealed the emergence of the 4F phenomenon where fashion, food, furniture and fitness attracted significant consumers. “The report corroborates the changes in consumption patterns that the Indian market is witnessing and as online shopping gains greater ground, customers increasingly prefer to do a thorough search and comparison of products online before they buy. For our sellers, the report provides necessary data and analytics to be leveraged in making their businesses more successful in the online space,” said Mahendra Nerurkar, general manager, Junglee.com.

He added that while 2012 was about electronics, appliances and books, the year 2013 was on the emergence of fashion. However in 2014, the shift was clearly to the emergence of furniture, food, fitness, and fashion. These categories attracted immense customer interest. According to the report, in fashion categories – shoes, watches and jewellery – have moved up the ranking by 2 points, and clothing by 1 point, thus seeing a 300% growth in searches in 2014. While interest in ‘bollywood sarees’ grew more than 400% from 2013, the volume of searches for the watches category grew by almost 100% in the same period.

Tablet or laptop
Adding to its range of Windows-based tablet PCs, iBall with tech conglomerates Intel and Microsoft has launched iBall Slide WQ149, a 10.1 inch model that offers a seamless combination of tablet with power of personal computer. Running on the latest Windows 8.1 operating system with the power of the Intel processor, the tablet is ideal for users looking to manage their PC related business requirements while also seeking entertainment.

Priced at Rs 21,999, the high configuration tablet has several features and comes packed with several free licenses, including the Microsoft Office license and 1 TB (terabyte) OneDrive cloud storage for one year.

Sandeep Parasrampuria, director at iBall, said, the new tablet is the perfect answer to those who are on the fence about whether to buy a tablet or laptop. “It is not only futuristic but also light-weight for those on-the-move and economical for users needing the Windows and office usage.”

Powered by the Intel Atom processor Z3735D (2M Cache, up to 1.83 GHz), it boasts of a multitude of features. The tablet comes bundled with magnetic pogo pin keyboard with touch pad and cover and performs faster with multi-tasking capabilities due to 2GB DDR3 RAM and 32GB built-in storage (expandable up to 64GB). It is also loaded with 5MP auto-focus camera with flash and a front 2MP camera for video chatting. Making the connectivity simpler to other devices is the HDMI port to keep users entertained, and the built-in 3G SIM slot enables anywhere, anytime connectivity.

Dabur gets Anil Kapoor
Healthcare company Dabur has got on board bollywood actor, Anil Kapoor, as its new brand ambassador for the latest offering, Dabur Ratnaprash, a power-packed formula that fights fatigue and keeps its consumers active all-day long. Enriched with the power of potent natural ingredients like moti, kesar, musali, brahmi and amla, Dabur Ratnaprash has been specially developed for adults. Backed by the age-old wisdom of ayurveda, the company claims that the product has been made after extensive research and is available in two sizes viz. 450g (for Rs 285) and 900g (for Rs 550).