Flipkart Launches 'Samarth' Initiative To Support Artisans In India

Flipkart has launched a new initiative called Flipkart Samarth in India to bring artisans, weavers, and handicrafts producers into e-commerce.

The move is expected to open up national market access for these underserved communities, by offering them constant access to a customer base of more than 150 million.

Samarth is designed to help artisans from onboarding until they reach familiarity with the process of selling online. The list of benefits available under this initiative includes dedicated support for onboarding, cataloging, account management, business insights, dedicated seller support, reduced commission were eligible, and warehousing.

While launching this initiative, Flipkart, CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy intimated that the company is helping underserved communities so they can access the market. The initiative will also help the company to partner with government and add impetus to various social empowerment schemes.

" Through this initiative, we are helping traditionally underserved communities access a pan-India market and engage with over 150 million customers. The initiative will help us to partner with the government and add impetus to various social empowerment schemes. Flipkart Samarth will leverage increasing internet penetration in rural India to boost entrepreneurship and we are excited about the shared value we're adding in the ecosystem with this initiative," he said.

Working With NGOs

Flipkart has also announced that it will work closely with NGOs and government bodies to reach a large number of rural entrepreneurs with a special focus on women-led enterprises, differently-abled entrepreneurs, artisans, and weavers, who often face obstacles such as lack of access to working capital, poor infrastructure, and inadequate training.

Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, Anurag Singh Thakur also said that "The government has taken a host of measures in the recent budget and during the past few years to nurture the startup ecosystem, support the MSME sector and encourage e-commerce platforms. "