Be it garment, wet grinder or pumpset manufacturers, sale of products through e-commerce portals had not been much till recently.
There had been several awareness events to motivate manufacturers to have websites, web pages and presence in social media. With the e-commerce portals reaching out to the SMEs and these companies also looking at opportunities to build brand, get new customers and expand business, some manufacturers have started selling through multiple portals. Industrial associations are helping the companies with workshops and guidance. The response seems to have been better in the textile segment here and more products made in Coimbatore are expected to be sold through these portals shortly.
E.K. Ponnuswamy, president of Coimbatore District Small Industries’ Association, says that even companies that have websites do not use it fully to market the products. “There is no focused effort mainly because there is a lack of awareness.” Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can make use of free tools, social media, etc to market their products. “It is an investment for the future and will help in brand building,” he says.
Prabhu Damodaran, secretary of Texpreneurs Forum, says that about 80 garment companies in Tirupur have started selling their products on the e-commerce portals. This include branded product makers and others.
For almost a year, many garment makers are getting into e-commerce through the portals and they are able to get repeat customers too. They are also able to get volume sales. One challenge faced by these companies is high rate of rejection.
However, this is a learning phase for the companies and the rejections are likely to come down over a period of time.
He, however, pointed out that individual efforts by companies to market online through websites are yet to take off.
According to a release from Snapdeal, the e-commerce platform has seen good response in the recent months from small and medium enterprises. Solutions such as Capital Assist make available the required capital for these companies.
Mr. Ponnuswamy adds that the association plans to focus on helping SMEs tap the opportunities online.
