Megastores.com offers a unique, open, free, social marketplace for artisans and organizations to sell their handicraft products online
Description
Megastores.com is an online social marketplace for artisans and brands to sell their authentic handmade products under their own brand name to customers worldwide.
When we think of handicrafts or handloom, we think of “rural” or “villages” having diverse cultures and traditions. In the old days, these traditions could only be very well preserved in the form of art and craft as very few people were literate. Most of the crafts have their own story but are on the verge of ...
Megastores.com is an online social marketplace for artisans and brands to sell their authentic handmade products under their own brand name to customers worldwide.
When we think of handicrafts or handloom, we think of “rural” or “villages” having diverse cultures and traditions. In the old days, these traditions could only be very well preserved in the form of art and craft as very few people were literate. Most of the crafts have their own story but are on the verge of extinction unless documented now. When the artisan leaves the craftwork and goes to do some labor job, the entire team working with the master artisan ends up being unemployed. Handloom is the 2nd largest employer in rural India with more than 200 million artisans but their avg. monthly income is about Rs. 5000. In the past 30 years, more than 2 million artisans have quit craftwork. The artisans are mostly old aged and the new generation is unwilling to take the craft forward as they don’t find economical growth. Also, they don’t have a basic know-how of business which makes them fully dependent on middlemen and traders to market their products. Artisans can not start a physical retail store because it’s not affordable in the cities where their customers belong. They are currently only able to market through exhibitions. What happens now is that they don’t get decent money for their hard work and they lose their identity. Also, even after the exponential growth of Indian handicraft exports, there is no improvement in artisan’s standard of living. On the other hand, the customers find it difficult to buy authentic handmade products. Also, customers end up paying a high price and sometimes they are duped by local traders and end up buying machine products in the name of handicraft.
Organization
Megastores.com
Budget
1cr
Impact
With the orders that we are generating, and the maximum benefit goes to the artisans, we are definitely making a social impact. We are increasing household income for artisans. We are spreading vocal for local messages and encouraging customers to buy handmade. We also educate and train artisans about digital marketing, technology, and many other business concepts that help them with their respective craftwork. Yes, we definitely feel that we have a great potential to create social impact as there is a huge demand for handicraft products in abroad countries. We have given export quality orders to artisans in Uttarakhand for their Moonj Grass products. We do weekly Instagram LIVE to promote artisans on social media.
Deployments
4
Innovation
While doing our groundwork, we realized that these artisans need a hand-holding approach to overcome these problems using technology interventions. Thus we started building an ecosystem to connect and bring all the stakeholders involved in the craft industry using technology. And Megastores.com was born. We make sure that the artisans are tech-enabled enough to market their products digitally. Our team personally visits artisans, makes their stories, documents their craft, and at the same time checks the authenticity of the product. We provide complete product cataloging for free which includes product photography, writing product descriptions, and specifications. This helps the artisans create their own brand and get the due credit for their artwork. This way every product on megastores is directly sold by the artisans with their stories. Customers get the complete know-how of not only the product but also the craft and the artisan too. As the customer is able to shop directly from the artisan, reducing in between sales channels, assures that the product is available at a fair price. Every purchase on Megastores.com ensures the preservation of our culture and further nurtures these age-old traditional craft forms along with promoting sustainable living. While working extensively on the ground we found that various organizations are working towards the development of the craft sector but are doing it individually resulting in duplication of efforts, broken communication, and lesser growth or scale. By bringing NGOs, Brands along with the government on one single platform we create an ecosystem solving these problems & ensure fruitful collaborations.
Timeline
Years
Pilots
Already done in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan
Location(s)
Mumbai, India
Website
https://www.megastores.com
Resources Needed
Sectors
Sustainable Development Goals
This solution addresses the following problems.
The dying art of ceramic pottery in India due to change in Consumer Behaviour which primarily prefers plastic products over natural products
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Total Visits | 208 |
Unique Visitors | 130 |
Unique Organisations | 0 |
Last Visit | March 9, 2024 |
By Location
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India | 1 |
Ashburn, Virginia, United States of America | 15 |
Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India | 1 |
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | 9 |
Berlin, Berlin, Germany | 15 |
Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, India | 1 |
Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh, India | 1 |
Boydton, Virginia, United States of America | 3 |
Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India | 1 |
Columbus, Ohio, United States of America | 2 |
Dallas, Texas, United States of America | 77 |
Delhi, Delhi, India | 1 |
Des Moines, Iowa, United States of America | 2 |
Dulles, Virginia, United States of America | 30 |
Falkenstein, Sachsen, Germany | 1 |
Grindelwald, Bern, Switzerland | 1 |
Gudari, Odisha, India | 1 |
Hisar, Haryana, India | 1 |
Hulsort, Niedersachsen, Germany | 1 |
Hyderabad, Telangana, India | 2 |
Lagos, Lagos, Nigeria | 1 |
Liege, Liege, Belgium | 1 |
Miami, Florida, United States of America | 1 |
Mountain View, California, United States of America | 8 |
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | 4 |
Pune, Maharashtra, India | 2 |
Quincy, Washington, United States of America | 2 |
Redmond, Washington, United States of America | 2 |
Saint Petersburg, Sankt-Peterburg, Russian Federation | 2 |
Seattle, Washington, United States of America | 1 |
Shimoga, Karnataka, India | 2 |
Singapore, Singapore, Singapore | 13 |
Tustin, California, United States of America | 1 |
Ulm, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany | 1 |
Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India | 1 |