Technology for MSMEs: Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) will launch its e-commerce marketplace about New Year’s day just after operating in beta mode for 4 months and will have about 700-800 merchandise, according to KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena. Entering the e-commerce turf dominated by Amazon, Flipkart, and vertical marketplaces such as BigBasket, and Grofers, KVIC has merchandise at the moment listed across 58 categories promoting groceries, footwear, apparel, herbal medicines, spices, and more. “We launched the beta portal in August and are now rolling it out completely on the 1st or 2nd of January. Currently, it is being managed by KVIC itself while the new marketplace will be operated by a franchisee. The beta portal has done well as we were able to serve more than 22,000 customers so far,” Saxena told TheSpuzz Online.
The e-commerce marketplace is anticipated to cross Rs 2 crore in turnover by finish of the present monetary year 2020-21 with khadi masks, khadi fabric, and honey being the best-promoting solution merchandise. “There is a huge demand for khadi products amid PM Modi’s appeal for local products. Out of 2,672 khadi stores across India, around 200 have already started with e-marketing. Now we are encouraging them to do this,” stated Saxena.
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The launch comes about KVIC’s current crackdown on fake khadi merchandise becoming sold on e-commerce marketplaces such as Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, and other people as claimed by the commission. It had stated in September that it forced such marketplaces to eliminate more than 160 net hyperlinks promoting merchandise in the brand name of Khadi. KVIC had stated then that it had sent legal notices to more than 1,000 firms utilizing Khadi India brand name to sell fake merchandise and “thus causing damage to its reputation and the loss of work to Khadi artisans,” according to its statement. The action had also led to shutting down of several retail retailers promoting fake khadi merchandise.
However, to continue fulfill the increasing demand of khadi merchandise amid Covid, KVIC “in august decided to launch our own marketplace to serve customers across India as all stores were closed but demand was there. We launched with masks and gradually added products,” stated Saxena. The discounts on the portal are becoming decided by KVIC as an alternative of khadi retailers. “We cannot jump the MRP and indulge in activities like deep discounting.”