Kochi: Finally, Kerala handloom has arrived on the online marketplace. And in style. Kerala State Handloom Weavers’ Cooperative Society Ltd (Hantex) has tied up with leading global online portal amazon.com to make a variety of the traditional Kerala products such as dhotis, sarees and shirts available for purchase online .
“We have started selling our products through amazon.in, the Indian portal of the global giant on a test basis from August 20,” K.S. Anil Kumar, managing director of Hantex, told Deccan Chronicle.
“At present we have made 10 varieties of clothes which include double dhotis, kasavu sarees, tissue sarees, cotton sarees and shirts available for sale online. We shall enlarge the product bouquet in two months by including more offerings such as furnishing materials.”Products will be delivered to places within the state in two days and other Indian destinations in three days, Mr Kumar said. The price will be slightly less than what one may be paying when buying directly from a showroom. Hantex is trying to out two things by tying up with amazon.com: give the customers a world class, hassle-free online experience and to buy genuine handloom materials, he said.
Hantex is now procuring the materials from the 400-odd cooperative societies which are the production centres. The cooperative is now working on setting up a full-fledged system, including an inventory, to serve the online customers, who have already started showing interest. “We have started getting inquiries and purchase orders for the products,” he said. The online trade will target will attract a segment of niche customers, he said. “People who wanted to gift their near and dear ones a quality products, that too traditional ones, will find the choice very attractive,” Mr Anil Kumar said.
