OdishaLive Bureau
Amazon to market and offer unique tribal products from across the country to its customers
In line with its vision to transform the way India buys &sells, Amazon India today signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development of India (TRIFED) at an event by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. As part of the MoU, Amazon India will launch and market TRIFED tribal products and TRIFED will sell them to Amazon customers in India.
The product portfolio will include unique tribal handicraft products such as metal craft, pottery, paintings, jewelry, and textiles in silk, cotton, woolens, cane and bamboo items which have a tremendous potential and demand across the country.
Tribal population constitute to about 8.61% of the total population of the country. But due to lack of relevant avenues and platforms to connect with the customers directly, the unique hand-crafted tribal products don’t get ample visibility and are not easily discoverable by customers across the country.
The idea is to provide livelihood generating activities to them in a sustained manner and boost their economy.
This collaboration is expected to help TRIFED be a part of and benefit from India’s booming digital economy. With the option of selling products online, TRIFED will be able to fetch an appropriate price for the tribal products, pass on the benefits to them, which in-turn will help raise their overall standard of living.
TRIFED, since its inception in 1987, aims to serve the interests of tribals across the country for the social and economic betterment, through self-help and external collaboration for marketing development of tribal products. TRIFED has been doing the retail marketing of tribal products through 29 own outlets under the brand name called ‘TRIBES INDIA’ and also through 13 State Emporia on consignment basis.
As per the MoU, Amazon India will provide an online marketplace for listing products by TRIFED and help make their products more attractive, appealing and visible across the online domain.
Also, Amazon India shall provide technical guidance and hand-holding to TRIFED, who will sell under the “Tribes India” brand name, like their offline stores, with aspects related to identifying saleable products, and assist with other promotional activities as well.
Sharing his views on the initiative, Jual Oram, Union Minister of Tribal Affairs, said, “We are happy to collaborate with Amazon India for helping us explore the arena of e-commerce. This initiative will help tribal community showcase and sell their products to the massive and loyal Amazon customer base across the country. Amazon is known worldwide for their rich experience and deep understanding of consumers, and we are confident that through this partnership, together we will be able to make a difference in the lives of the tribal community across the country.”
Gopal Pillai, Director, Seller Services, Amazon India, added, “Our continuous effort is to drive disruptive change and transform the lives of sellers including tribal seller across the country. This association is a huge step for us in our transformation journey and will provide a massive boost to the entire local eco system.”
Last year, Amazon India, partnered with DC Handloom, Ministry of Textiles to supplement the efforts of the government to uplift artisans & SMEs across the country. It has also partnered with various government bodies like Gujarat Tribal Development Department and Government of Telangana to support weavers and artisans from the region.
The company has created specialized training modules, conducted workshops with on-ground staff and shared learning resources to help them start & grow their businesses online.
