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With Narendra Modi, the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate, crisscrossing the country ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, his admirers have floated an online merchandise portal ‘NaMo Store’ to market merchandise carrying the Gujarat Chief Minister’s name and message under the brand name ‘NaMo Mantra’.
The portal, www.thenamostore.com, which commenced operation on December 23, has become the first online global store to offer products inspired by the “values and lifestyle of NaMo” Manish Saini, the portal’s “volunteer and representative”, told Business Line here on Thursday.
Set up by half-a-dozen friends from different professions, he said, the online store has no proprietor nor has it invested any significant money. “We have pooled our contributions,” he said, adding he was a designer-cum-filmmaker.
Saini, however, denied that the portal had anything to do with Modi or the BJP or whether it was using the BJP strongman’s name as a brand with his or the party’s permission. “We have discussed the matter with some BJP leaders and they have no problem unless we misuse Modi’s or the party’s name.”
The price range of the products offered on the portal would be affordable, between Rs 15 and Rs 500 for most articles. The portal would outsource all the orders it receives, he added
One can buy branded designer apparel and a variety of merchandise under the brand name NaMo Mantra on the dedicated e-commerce platform. The products available would fall under three categories viz. Namo Mantra, Namo Lekh and Namo Tech, including T-shirts, Koti, stationery, including pen drives and planners. The merchandise can be bought using debit/credit cards and Net banking.
The store offers products crafted around the vision of ‘India First’, a phrase coined by Modi. “The NaMo Store offers products designed by professional designers keeping in view current trends and the style quotient.”
Saini said the store would also be launching its own retail stores across cities in India to widen its reach in the near future. According to a recent Assocham survey, about half of India’s 100 million Internet users opt for online purchases and Ahmedabad ranked third after Delhi and Mumbai in online shopping.
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