Shoppingkart24: A unique shopping portal offering the wide range of handicraft products to art connoisseurs
India is widely known for its rich heritage and culture since ages. This culture has, since ages, acted as a mother by virtue of giving birth to assorted art forms. This invokes a myriad of hopes among citizens creating a sense of euphoria that everything is hunky dory in the world of Indian art and culture. But the reality is far from this perception. These art forms are marred by the lack of platforms which leads to a lacuna of the targeted audience. What’s more disheartening is the fact that the patrons and artisans of these legacies are the struggling market and sell their products compelling them to look out for alternatives to run their lives. This paucity of platform gave vision to a young man to develop a digital platform for these people. The young man was none other than Mr Prateek B. Singh himself who was well aware of the worsening conditions of these artists. Mr Prateek B. Singh, hailing from Varanasi, knew exactly what the need of the hour was. He brushed up his knowledge about E-commerce and started a career as a vendor on different e-commerce portals with an aim to start his own E-commerce business. Subsequently, he became the brainchild of Shoppingkart24.com in the year 2015. The startup since then has been marching ahead with a mission to provide a unique selling portal to these neglected artisans, craftsmen, rural and urban vendors.
Initially, the company was marred by the challenge of developing a trust among the rural artisans, craftsmen, local vendors and the consumers as well. As the concept was altogether new, it was nothing sort of a herculean task for the startup company to persuade vendors to work with them. But the conviction and vision of the company invigorated a sense of trust in them. In its next stage, the company set its target to tap the customers so that it could increase customers’ footprint on the portal. Apart from this, it is educating artisans and local vendors to make them aware of e-commerce and the humongous potential it has imbued into it.
Shoppingkart24 is enthusiastically working on its core idea to narrow down the gap between artisans or craftsmen, local vendors and buyers. It is encouraging artisans, medium &small scale entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs and products from rural and urban India. In this way, it is providing a helping hand to scale up their business. Shoppingkart24 was established with a vision to offer a global platform to many artisans/craftsmen, small-scale vendors, to showcase their unique & versatile line of products and hence promoting richness & uniqueness of Indian products.
Making collaborations to bring excellence
In this growing era of digitization, most of the established e-commerce players are seeking opportunities in Tier-II & Tier-III cities. But here lies a complexity. We get to see a plethora of artisans, vendors, retailers and shopkeepers who are not aware of online businesses. Despite producing unique and quality products, they are left in the lurch due to their inability to go along with the need of the hour. This makes them vulnerable leading them to lose their share of demand in the market. This is where the Shoppingkart24 comes to the rescue of these needy people. Shoppingkart24 is a marketplace which aims at promoting the work of Indian craftsmen, artisans, upcoming designers and entrepreneurs globally. It offers a unique & versatile line of products coming from rural and urban vendors at customer’s doorstep. It is providing them with a robust platform and educating them to sell & publish their products globally. Mr Pratik Singh has collaborated with many acclaimed organizations line to bring excellence. He collaborated with CIPAM-DIPP (Ministry Of Commerce) and became the proud owner of the first company to be associated with CIPAM to enhance the marketability of GI Products.
In line with its efforts to bring a multitude of art forms on the platform, the company has visited different States such as Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttarakhand to meet artisans and take them on-board. It is also associated with some NGOs and SHGs who are working for the betterment of Artisans and Craftsmen.
The power of 3Es: Educate, Empower and Enrich
This is the three main important points on which shoppingkart24 focuses on. It is educating rural craftsmen/women with real skills and bringing it to the market. Apart from this, it is bringing their skills to the online market. It is empowering them which lead to improvement in the quality of life. This ultimately becomes a source for their enrichment. Shoppingkart24 is walking with a firm step towards the success of all. Its prime objective is to promote the work of Indian craftsmen, artisans, upcoming designers and entrepreneurs globally.
Beautifully designed shopping portal with a wide range of products
After visiting the portal, one gets simply awed by the colossal range of artistic products which are segmented brilliantly. There is specified segmentation for GI products, products from Uttar Pradesh and Handicrafts etc making it easier for the user to surf through the desired sections. The portal is full of assorted handicraft products such as Handmade Bags, Handmade Mobile Pouches, Handmade Toys, Wooden Tray, Key Holders, Wall Hanging, Mobile Stands, Decorative Items and Rakhi etc. The portal literally surprises the visitors by its vastness and assortments it has in its kitty.
Future Plans
Shoppingkart24 wants to showcase all the arts and crafts and GI Products from each State of India on its platform. It is looking to showcase a larger product selection base to the customers from vendors of rural and urban areas. Not only this, it wants to endorse artisans, craftsmen, women entrepreneurs, vendors from all over the regions of India to the customers worldwide. It is looking for opportunities to implement new features on the website to give the best customer experience to sellers as well as customers. The company is working with an aim to achieve ten times growth in its customer base and want to increase per customer spend by 2.5 to 3 times.
