The West Bengal State Handloom Weavers’ Co-operative Society Ltd., popularly known as “Tantuja”, announced its foray into US market today through Amazon’s Global Selling Program. This marks the expansion of Tantuja on Amazon where it has been selling handloom products crafted by local artisans & weavers of West Bengal on Amazon.in since August last year. Tantuja sarees have seen a tremendous response from customers across the country and this association will help them tap the wide global customer base with a huge demand for traditional Indian products.
Biren Kr. Basak & Gour Chandra Basak, Sant Kabeer Awardee and Tantuja weavers on Amazon said, “From selling my products in India to traversing boundaries with Amazon, it’s great to know that now I can showcase and sell my handmade portfolio to global customers. This is unbelievable!”
Talking about the launch, Swapan Debnath, Minister of State, Handloom & Textiles, Govt. of West Bengal said, “We have enabled thousands of local weavers, artisans & craftsmen to get direct access to customers while ensuring they get the right value for their offerings. Amazon is a pioneer in global e-commerce space with over 20 years of experience. We will extend all possible support to them and ensure that West Bengal’s handloom sellers make the best use of this opportunity and access global markets to expand their business.”
Sharing his views on the launch, Mr. R. N. Roy, IAS, MD, Tantuja said, “Authentic handloom products have found resonance with shoppers across the country and with the growing popularity of digital commerce, we have been witnessing increasing demand across markets. We are looking at taking our handloom products to different international marketplaces as we see burgeoning interest amongst NRIs & global customers for traditional Indian prints & designs. We appreciate Amazon’s seller-backwards approach and aim to grow our business internationally with Amazon’s support & guidance through its end-to-end solutions.”
“We launched our global selling program with the vision of enabling SMEs across the country have easy access to global customers and empower them with requisite skills & tools to ensure timely delivery of products and drive customer value. Since its inception in May 2015 in the country, the program has grown multifold with over 20,000 Indian sellers currently selling over 45 million products to shoppers on 10 international marketplaces. Tantuja is one of the most popular and recognized handloom forms in the Indian and West Bengal textile industry and we are glad to partner with the Government of West Bengal to help them leverage the opportunity of global selling. We will provide all possible means to enable the brand to grow internationally across all our marketplaces” said Gopal Pillai, Director & GM, Seller Services, Amazon India.
West Bengal is known for the rich tradition of handloom weaving. Jamdani, Tangail, Baluchari and Daccai are some of the most popular heritage handloom sarees from Bengal and have attracted not only national but worldwide attention as well.
Through its Global Selling Program, Amazon offers end-to-end product solutions by enhancing seller enrollment services like imaging, logistics, and helping them connect with the right advisors to get assistance on tax and remittance matters. The e-commerce player has launched an impressive selection of products across categories with mammoth brands such as Biba, Fab India Himalaya Amul, and 24 Mantra Organic to name a few.