@ Vikas Sharma | Sr Journalist
Mumbai: – Jaypore, from the house of Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Limited, has collaborated with Creative Dignity to ensure the artisan community reaches customers digitally. The brand will offer its wide-reach and a pan-India customer base through its ecommerce platform to the artisans giving them access to new markets and sustained livelihood opportunities.
Jaypore has partnered with Creative Dignity, a zero-margin voluntary platform, to provide relief to artisan’s community severely hit due to COVID-19 pandemic. Under the ‘Artisan Direct’ campaign of Creative Dignity, the collaboration will feature work of over 250 artisans on their website over a period of time giving these artisans a platform to sell their products to customers from across the country.
Creative Dignity and Jaypore will help the artisans boost their business by also providing them with training in the field of ecommerce including templates for catalogue making, photography, pricing, and logistics management. The sales campaigns are being promoted by FICCI FLO at the national level. The brand will not only provide an online marketplace to these artisans for marketing their products but will also engage with them to train on making the products more attractive, appealing, and sellable across the ecommerce platforms. These training programs are backed by the volunteers from premier Design Institutes in India as well as designers and NGOs. Continuous training is being given to the artisans by expert volunteers in their villages that usually has limited facilities.
Rashmi Shukla, Brand Head, Jaypore says, “Jaypore as a brand has always been vocal about local since inception. India’s rich Craft and Craftsmen are at the heart and soul of the brand. We have always taken pride in providing a platform to the Craft and Artisan community to showcase India’s exquisite craft heritage. The ongoing pandemic has posed a severe challenge of sustenance to craftsmen across nation, endangering our craft and talent. We have partnered with Creative Dignity to support the craft community, by doing a non-profit engagement so that these artisans get the maximum benefits. This collaboration will help us stimulate the handicraft environment in the country and ultimately strengthen our collective national motto of ‘Make in India’.”
“The first edition which was recently concluded was of immense interest to Jaypore’s audience, the product being artisanal and completely in line with what our customers look for. We showcased products like sarees in ajrakh block prints, bandhani sarees, mud mirror work accessories, leather bags and more”, added Rashmi Shukla.
The Artisan Direct Campaign is being undertaken across India in collaboration with multiple online platforms, of which Jaypore is an important partner. This crisis is also a time for collaboration for survival of the most vulnerable. The campaign enables artisans to become digitally aligned while online partners voluntarily reduce margins to create attractive offers to consumers during the campaign periods. It becomes a win-win for all, as consumers shop feeling good about helping artisans and still getting good prices on the products.
“The first batch of artisans on boarded on the Artisan Direct Campaign – Gujarat Edition, are already seeing results. They have been able to move stocks quickly and we are feeling so overwhelmed with everyone’s support in putting this together. Times of crisis help to bring out the best in us – we touch our humanity once more,” said Meera Goradia from Creative Dignity.
Jaypore will be bringing a positive impact on about 250 artisans with this initiative over a period of time. The brand has tried to reach out to smaller enterprises who lack their own supply chain backend, women led enterprises and artisans which had built-up inventory and those who were most vulnerable owing to their financial need. Jaypore is planning to engage with these artisans on continuing basis even post the campaign and also plans to extend support to the artisans across the country in the near future.
All products of the artisans are available for purchase through the ‘Direct to Artisan’ page on Jaypore.com