After campaigns such as ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’, the government should promote ‘brands of India’ to give a leg-up to local weavers, artisans and toymakers, especially by selling these through online marketplaces, said a top boss at Snapdeal.
“What we need in India is more brands. We were telling the government (in one of the meetings) that in the next campaign, we should have brands of India,” Kunal Bahl, Snapdeal Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, told BusinessLine .
He said: “It is good to become a manufacturing hub, and India can also become a digital hub, but the reason why the US is such a successful and resilient economy, is because all the major brands are owned by them.”
However, India is not far behind at all, said Bahl, adding that a lot of brands can be made available to the world.
“We have a great advantage because we have low-cost labour and electricity, and if we now also own the brands, the combination will be very potent. If you own a supply chain as well as the brand, it can be a killer combination. And very few companies have that. Even China does not have brands…they only manufacture,” Bahl said.
Citing the US example again, Bahl said promoting local brands was important for the betterment of the country’s economy as well.
He said this was one of the reasons that Snapdeal had partnered with various State governments, corporations (such as Tamil Nadu Small Industries Development Corporation and North Eastern Handicrafts & Handloom Development Corporation) and promoters of such goods to sell their products through its portal.
Selling more local brands The company is selling some local brands such as ‘Butterflies Handbags’, ‘PraSid Toys’ and ‘Doyours’ (sanitary fittings), which became famous with Snapdeal.
“These are something we are truly passionate about. A lot of these handicrafts will otherwise die, as no retailer wants to carry them. But, here (online marketplace), we even share analytics with them saying if one product (say, a wooden horse) is selling more than another (a wooden elephant), make more such products in demand,” he said.
To make these products available from one corner to another, the company is investing more in logistics partners, such as Gojavas, as also with India Post, which is actively participating in such services. Hundreds of thousands of packets are being delivered every month, Bahl added.