10 Tips to sell handmade products online – Don’t miss the bonus tip !

INTRODUCTION

Handmade productions are unique in nature, and it always has a specific set of consumers who intends to curate their collectables by visiting crafts shop, boutiques or opt for online craft shops selling handicraft items.

Indian artisans are well versed with diversified skillsets to produce amazing artifacts which mesmerizes the consumers globally. Few being self-ideated, innovated or inspired by any concept while many follows the traditional art form – being the torch bearer of generation wide cultural heritage.

Artisan communities and clusters are contributing towards the growth of Indian economy from the ancient ages.

Providing support to these artisans is henceforth quintessential which has driven us to form a platform which eventually transformed as a consortium of Craft, Artisan & Competence, acronym - Craftinence™

Click here to read more on us.

As the name suggests products which are produce by means of skill and human physical interventions are normally termed as handmade. They are a perfect example of transformation of idea into a physical product which have essence of dedication, effort and focus. Craftsmanship is indispensable to produce a perfect piece of handmade wonder.

Handcrafted produces made by the artisans are unique hence its easy to attract the consumers who has the demand for handicrafts, handmade products, handwoven items like sustainable fabrics, cotton fabrics,  handwoven fabrics, merino wools, handmade upcycled bags, kantha stitched sarees, handmade home decor items and many more.

With the emerging trend of availability of multiple distribution channels technology has aided the availability and comfort of shopping handmade for the buyers with confidence and convenience. Today almost everything is available online through exclusive websites, affiliate pages or online marketplaces like Flipkart & Amazon.

These marketplaces have also seen the benefits and the growing trend in the demand curve thus providing offers, discounts & promotions during several marketing campaigns. Few of the major ones are like the amazon prime day 2021. They also have dedicated pages to promote handicraft which boosts the confidence of the Indian karigars & artisans through Amazon Karigar – Empowering Indian Artisans selling handicraft products. 

With the existence of over 7 million regional artisans spread across the country & almost 67,000 exporters constantly putting their efforts to promote Indian handicrafts to the global audience which results a promising $718 billion market in 2020 and expected to have the upward shift from 2021-2026 period.

Despite having the unique characteristics of being handmade and the promising market demand selling handmade is not so easy.

So, if you are a handmade lover then you must read our blog post - HANDMADE LOVERS SHOULD KNOW THESE FACTS

But, if you are planning to launch your first handmade boutique or handmade business - these 10 tips would help you to promote handmade products online effectively.

Don’t miss the bonus tips!

1.       PRODUCT SOURCE

Handmade products are attractive, unique and dynamic. Also, in most cases this is regional too. Hence in order to go for an online shopping portal the sourcing needs to be strategic and well connected. This can be sourced either from the local artisans or from other regions within your network. In Ecommerce time is the key factor hence sourcing needs to be in tandem along with the market pull. Unavailability at the right time may impact your online handmade business.

2.       MARKET RESEARCH

This is imperative irrespective of the business nature and needs to be considered into your MUST DO list. Accurate market research would determine the success rate for any business. Not only in the initial phase but in prolonged period. Constant & interim market research would help you to understand the ongoing trend in preference, pricing policies, distribution policies, duties & taxes, self-performance over competitor performance any many more vital insights.

3.       PRODUCT CATALOG

In Ecommerce right product cataloguing is very important as this would help the business to navigate at the right direction. As a businessperson once its decided the right product or product groups that have demand this is vital to shortlist and be specific about the choice or selection of products to offer. Catalog would help the buyers to filter the right product at the time of conversion.

4.       PRODUCT CATEGORY

In case of multiple product selections, you might opt for product categories. This segmentation and classification of products would provide the buyers the ease of shortlisting and effective product filtering. These categorisations could be done utilising the product dimensions like Nature of product, available Colours, Sizes, patterns, weights etc.

5.       PRODUCT PRICE

Pricing is the key and this would be a make or break decision maker. The pricing strategy has to be competitive yet considering all the overheads and ensuring the profit margin. Exorbitant high price would impact the buyers adversely while the lower price would raise question and result diversion. Hence the pricing needs to be a balanced decision which would give your business the right edge.

6.       PRODUCT IMAGE

It says visibility is the key specially in online diaspora and images speak thousand words. Hence, high resolution prominent and impressive product images, marketing collaterals and banners would make the difference by creating positive impact to your buyers. Your product image needs to focus on the USP of the product, it should not divert anything off topic, this should also be taken from various angles to give a wholistic view of the product.

7.       PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

In online platforms or marketplaces, you do not get an opportunity to convince the buyers physically. Hence the only mode is virtual. Product detailing needs to be precise, accurate and detailed. Consumers are very much inquisitive about the selected products, and they require proper detailing such as descriptions, wash care, warranty details, product specification and physical attributes.

8.       ECOMMERCE WEBSITE

Ecommerce websites are effective to bridge between the creators and the consumers. Technical advancement would leverage to perform the gap analysis and suggest the right solution in terms of front end and backend solutions. Effective implementation of UI & UX would create the shopping experience to remember resulting repeated business. Proper selection of high-end servers, web development technologies would boost the site performance making it faster to load, easy to navigate, smooth shopping and faster delivery.

9.       PAYMENT METHOD

Payment gateways where the transaction takes place hence utmost care needs to be taken while selecting the payment gateway options because this is the place where fraud happens. Hence security needs to be in high priority and ease of access and faster completion is indispensable. Trusted gateways like PayPal, CC Avenues, Razor pay, PayU would build trust resulting higher conversions.

10.   SHIPPING

Once the order is received as a business pace of delivery needs to be on top priority. The shorter the delivery time its better for your business. Hence selection of the logistics partner needs to be crucial. Broader network, ease of access, smooth tracking provides transparency and ease of doing business.

11.   MARKETING

Marketing is required for every business, hence its also vital for online business as well. The key difference is its mostly virtual and visibility matters. Omnichannel presence and driving traffic would result the business visibility. However proper audience filtering using cutting edge technology and analysis of traffic insights would provide your business the right edge.

12.   SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION

Search engines are the major source from where traffic for your sites usually come. Hence on page and off page search engine optimisation is effective to perform a constant marketing initiative. This helps increasing visibility and relate the purpose of your business with the goal of the consumers. Hence taking care of constant SEO activities would be fruitful in long run.

All though these are just few of the vital aspects you need to take care if you are planning to delve into the Ecommerce specially dealing with Handicraft. But the trend says people need something more. So here is another BONUS TIP for your plan which might come handy:

Since we all are living in an age where digital media is predominant hence almost everyone is aware about globalisation where world is gradually becoming small, and information is easily available. Everyone is aware about global warming, Environment pollution. Hence to conserve the natural resources sustainability is the key.

Business initiatives are built upon the social atmosphere hence we can’t ignore the importance of natural resources.

So, it becomes evident that all the business needs to address the sustainability factors and try to work to foster a culture which drives a sense of conscious consumption, advocate the sustainable development goals.