STRATEGIES HOW TO CREATE E-COMMERCE

PLATFORM FOR CARPET INDUSTRY

DR M RASHID MALIK
E-COMMERCE
• The concept of e-commerce has revolutionised the way marketing is done All over the
world
• But this concept is relatively new to carpet industry.
• Looking at the global trend, it is entirely right to say that e-commerce has been a
wonderful blessing for business purposes for people all over the world.
• Carpet manufacturers and artisans can do successful e-commerce without having
expensive software with e-commerce platforms.
• Handicraft Industry is labour intensive industry and forms considerable part of total
exports from India.
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• No doubt, company competitiveness is profoundly related to the level of technology,

levels of skills, learning and experience.
• The globalization of business has provided MSMEs with opportunities and challenges.
• Exploiting ICT technology is one of the potential opportunities.
• Above all, business-to-business e-commerce has been introduced as an emerging trend.
• Both sellers and buyers can reap the benefits of the profitability and productivity
improvements through e-commerce
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• Selling carpets through an Internet platform encounter many limitations,

• Some of these barriers surround B2C e-commerce, and include
• customer can see but not touch and feel the quality of the carpets, digital photographs may not
give accurate colorations,
• the buyer's need to trust the company and brand,
• expectation of high service standards (replacement, refund, customization) and
• especially customer financial security.
• Employing E-commerce does offer opportunities for carpet producers and can enhance
performance and efficiency at the different stages of the value chain.
• In a knowledge-based economy, applications of information and communications
technology can be a great leveller for MSMEs
• E-commerce presents small businesses with the opportunity to compensate for their
traditional weakness in areas such as access to new export markets and competing with
larger firms.
• It can provide global opportunities by enabling the flow of ideas across national
boundaries improving the flow of information and linking increased numbers of buyers
and sellers
• To incorporate the technology into their operations, small business needs to find ways to
deal with high set-up costs, as well as lack of adequate infrastructure and IT skills.
• Unlike the requirements necessary to run a business from a physical building,
e–commerce does not require
• storage space,
• insurance, or
• infrastructure investment on the part of the retailer.
E-COMMERCE PLATFORM

• E-Commerce platform can help grass roots artisan and manufacturers

• E-Commerce platform will not only showcase and market the products but
• also will eliminate the cost of development and running the websites which is too high for
micro and small carpet producers as well for weavers.
• E-Commerce platform will assist individual artisans and carpet manufactures particularly
Micro and Small manufacturers to
• showcase their products online,
• promote and market their products in the domestic market which is at present negligible
and also at the global level.
FUNCTIONS OF E-COMMERCE PLATFORM APPLICABLE TO THE CARPET INDUSTRY

• Providing on-line catalogues.

• Matching buyers and producers through the use of ICT.
• Facilitating the transactions by
• providing access to financial and logistics support
BENEFITS TO CARPET EXPORTERS AND ARTISANS

• Exporters and artisans can expand the boundary of marketplace from national to
international markets
• It helps in reducing the long chain of market intermediaries
• It enables carpet exporters and artisans to sell their products 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,
all year round to global market from almost any location
• It can provide relevant and detailed information to the buyers in seconds.
• Carpet exporters and artisans can build a large catalogue on the web that would never fit in
an ordinary mailbox
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• Improved customer interactions

• Direct interaction with the customers provides an opportunity to get feedback on the
products sold online.
Thank you