Bhubaneswar: Amazon India has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Directorate of Textiles, Odisha, to expand e-commerce opportunities for the state’s weavers and artisans.
Under the partnership, more than 1.3 lakh weavers and artisans are expected to be onboarded onto Amazon Karigar, providing them with access to a wider national customer base and new digital avenues to market their traditional products.
The collaboration is particularly significant for artisans producing Odisha’s GI-tagged handloom products, with makers of nine such traditional products expected to benefit from the initiative.
Support from onboarding to marketing
As part of the partnership, Amazon will provide a range of support services to participating artisans and sellers. These include onboarding, training, account management, product imaging, cataloguing and marketing assistance.
The initiative is aimed at helping traditional artisans overcome some of the challenges associated with entering and managing online marketplaces, while enabling them to showcase their products to customers across India.
By bringing Odisha’s handloom products to a larger digital marketplace, the partnership is expected to create new opportunities for artisans to increase their market reach and strengthen their livelihoods.
Preserving Odisha’s handloom heritage
Odisha has a rich handloom tradition, with generations of weavers preserving distinctive weaving techniques, designs and cultural motifs.
The collaboration seeks to combine this traditional craftsmanship with modern e-commerce infrastructure, while maintaining the authenticity and heritage of Odisha’s handloom products.
The partnership is also expected to contribute to the broader effort to promote Odisha’s traditional crafts and provide local artisans with greater access to national markets.
With more than 130,000 weavers and artisans potentially gaining access to Amazon Karigar, the initiative could provide a significant digital boost to Odisha’s handloom sector and help take the state’s traditional craftsmanship to homes across the country.
-OdishaAge
