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Sudip Dutta’s IT job took him traveling to China, a country known for its rich art and craft heritage like India, which got him thinking. Data from Ministry of Textiles/Export Promotion Council for Handicrafts told him that the handicrafts market in India has been growing at a steady state, almost doubling every five years. (1999-’00: Rs.6,000 crore; 2005-’06: Rs.14,000 crore). “India has 2 percent of the global handmade products share. Compare that China’s 30 percent exports and you see that there is a huge potential for Indian artisans to grow,” says Dutta, Founder and CEO, aporv, an e-commerce site selling Indian handicrafts to a global audience.

Further research told him our handicraft sector employs between 16-30 million people, 7-10 percent of whom leave their jobs periodically to pursue other opportunities, due to weak market linkages and an increasing number of fake products. “This is an issue in the Indian market,” he states. The idea germinated during late 2008-’09 but aporv was only launched on World Environment Day in June 2010 as a potential solution to bridge the gap.

The 1999 BITS Pilani graduate wanted to give artisans a fair price for products as top priority. That was not the only differentiator. Dutta wanted aporv to sell products as a story. “We want to educate customers on the historical and cultural uniqueness of products and uplift artisans,” explains Dutta. Secondly, he wanted to reach a global audience and, thirdly, Dutta was keen to showcase products from different geographic regions of the country on one single platform. Keeping the above-mentioned criteria in mind, he realized that building an online platform selling only authentic, unique products was the answer. “An e-commerce site minimizes efforts from a customer and artisan point of view,” he says. aporv is seeking to be a top destination for handmade products and all its marketing initiatives stem from this goal.

As a strategy to source merchandize, Dutta knew he had to touch base with top artisans first. He targeted South India as a location to start with and identified about five-10 artisans in Andhra Pradesh and Mysore. This number has grown to over 1,700 artisans across 10-15 states since. Dutta established a business model whereby aporv partners with NGOs, Self Help Groups (SHGs) and other established organizations to reach out to artisans across the country and source products. “NGOs and SHGs have less access to markets, they have retail stores but no premium online store,” he adds.

Reaching out to top artisans was a difficult job for Dutta and took him six-eight months to understand the industry and convince artisans of the opportunity. But that was not the sole challenge. Certain crafts like black pottery from Manipur, for instance, are seasonal, and this meant production could only take place for six-eight months of the year, after which artisans usually engage in agriculture for sake of self-sustenance. “Even if you get a good corporate order, you have to be very clear on the nuances of making each product,” emphasizes Dutta. The startup is adding about four-five SHGs and NGOs to its list of partners every month and is in talks with some in northern and western India too. “On an average, these organizations have anywhere between 20-300 artisans working with them,” he says.

Over the months aporv has evolved into what Dutta describes as an open source, as artisans are still allowed to sell to middlemen if they want, in addition to the online store. “The main problem for artisans is a lack of regular stream of income and that’s when they quit the trade and these crafts die,” explains Dutta. Therefore, the impact aporv is creating is an opportunity to work all year round and earn wages.

To further strengthen this chain, aporv hired design consultants to provide inputs to artisans to produce and create innovative items. The business model has also been consciously structured to run thin on inventory as a measure to cut excessive costs. This cost advantage is passed on to artisans and end consumers. “Most orders are serviced in a way where the product is in the process of getting made,” explains Dutta. “We don’t want to hold much inventory so we keep less, else money gets blocked, and artisans need payment upfront,” he adds. The online handicraft store refurbishes out-of-stock products within 7-10 days on the website. “Customers have the option of back ordering if they are willing to wait for three weeks,” says Dutta.

The firm has a three-pronged revenue strategy whereby it earns through commission from partnership, retail online sales and corporate orders. The last vertical is something that Dutta is still strengthening and, so far, aporv is a vendor to one major technology company and has supplied a bulk order of folders. “We can add value to corporates through their CSR activities,” he says. “Moreover, there aren’t many players offering handmade corporate gifting options,” he adds.

Abhishek Pamecha a resident of the U.S., shopped at aporv to gift his parents residing in Rajasthan a locally-crafted lamp from Andhra Pradesh due to the inaccessibility/sparse availability of Indian handicrafts overseas. “I had an excellent experience and the purchase was a breeze,” he states. “The shipping was completely transparent, we got notified at every step of the order and my parents had it delivered to them in time,” Pamecha adds.

Local customer in Bengaluru, Pinky Padmaraj, perused the online store out of curiosity and was piqued by its repertoire of products and the convenience of shopping online. “Product categories on aporv make it easier to browse and select items,” says Padmaraj. “The trivia notes added to each product is a wonderful tool to evoke interest in the product itself,” she points out. Products currently come with an additional shipping charge and this too is confined to domestic market. “We are still looking for a suitable logistics partner overseas before we can provide international shipping,” explains Dutta.

Dutta has garnered advice and support from ASCENT, Asian Center for Entrepreneurial Initiatives, in Bengaluru since ideation. “Sudip has made rapid progress in setting up his operations and I find his business strategies are well in place,” says Madhura Chatrapathy, advisor to aporv for over a year.

Chatrapathy commended the social enterprise’s business model as ‘well-crafted’ with successful promotional strategies in place. “Though conceived more as a B2C, it is a good idea to bolster the traffic by participating in international trade fairs, particularly gift, craft and other such related fairs,” advises Chatrapathy.

According to Chatrapathy, India has over 3,800 production units (handicraft sector) and is said to generate approximately Rs.1,357.05 crore from domestic and export markets. As far as aporv’s scope in the market goes, Chatrapathy is of the opinion that premium products with unique designs for gifting, as well as lifestyle products have better market potential and margins, as compared to everyday simple artifacts and she feels the startup should tap into the same to scale. “Online retail for handicrafts is challenging, one needs to focus on a strongly niche market,” she claims.

Till date the startup has been operating sans external funding, however, Dutta is not averse to the idea, but only once aporv is established in the marketplace. In the context of the need to bring in external funding, Chatrapathy points out, “As the market expands, inventory management becomes one of the critical issues. Plus, artisans need to work on cash and carry basis, thus working capital requirements will increase enormously.”

Other factors such as investments in designer inputs, selective mechanization and technology support, warehouse and other logistics support need funding, according to the advisor.

Dutta will also add organic and personal care items to his portfolio of products soon. “This is a very interesting business proposition that will not only help Indian art and craft but also help discerning buyers globally access genuine artifacts,” says Deepak Kumar, Dutta’s ex-colleague at Infosys Technologies and sounding board to his venture.

Having been at close quarters with him since 2005, Kumar describes Dutta as a thorough professional with strengths in planning as well as execution.

“He ensures excellent quality of work and works very well in teams as well as individually,” Kumar claims. What does he think of his venture? “It’s scalable as Sudip has wisely adopted the online medium for reaching to his potential customers and has tied up with leading names for managing his back-office operations,” says Kumar.

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aporv, ASCENT, China, company, customers, handicrafts, Infosys, online, sudip dutta