eyaas.com
Description
Crafts is not just beautiful things that have potential commercial value. It is a lifestyle that has been lived and practiced for generations. Crafts are representative of the social segmentation, economic structure, religion, climate and flora and fauna of a region. Through eyaas, an online marketplace for folk and rural products, we bring you some of the stories. When we project a craft product for sale, we bring to you the name and the story of the craft person. We bring you the story of the craft, its origins and its use. Through images and use of social media, we are able to show the lifestyles behind the product. We are living in a world where we value only that which gives us material benefits. Therefore through the use of digital technology we create enable commercial value by providing access to consumers. We recognize the crafts person as an artist because his creation is not just his representation of an idea, but it the story of an entire culture. By digitizing crafts through a commercial channel, we are not only creating economic value but our Endeavour is to preserve the living heritage for posterity with pride and respect.
What do we deliver
We deliver services to our customers which includes creating content for them. As mentioned before our customer base more often than not is unaware of the power of the internet. In a lot of cases they are not even literate so computer and technological awareness is cursory if at all and knowledge and aptitude is almost always absent. In our effort to ensure that our producers get internet air time or space we need to create their content for them. We provide them with photography services, write-ups, pricing models to ensure that they can reach a global audience in the standards they are used to. Once we help them and take them through content creation we also take them through the business process and the reasons of why we maintain inventory and ensure in-time delivery and serviceability to the final consumer. We maintain warehouse and logistics service from a metro hub to ensure that we can service a global (not just a national) client base within a working week. We explain how money comes in and the concept of payment gateways and connection to bank accounts and how all transactions take place without any real paper cash involved till it gets to them. We leave the producers to deal with what they are good – making new products. We take care of the business and administrative end of the exercise to bring not just serviceability but to also bring in a level of organization and accountability to an otherwise disorganized and diffused sector.
Whom we deliver
We are currently providing full service to our producer segment – individual artisans and/or non-profit or community based organizations which use handcrafted products as a means of livelihood generation or community development. We have non-profit organizations like Okhai and self-help groups like Noor (supported by Aga Khan Foundation) that use our platform to promote their products online. Individual artisans like national award winning potters and folk artists also sell through us. Local jewellers from Himachal and weavers from Uttaranchal have also used our platform. Most of them are people who use us as a supplementary sales channel to off-line sales & exhibitions. In India we do offline promotions through corporate tie-ups which also allow us access to their base of employees and provides us with a technology friendly base of consumers.
Why is the project unique?
Our project is unique in its processes. Against all odds we have been able to stick to our decision to work only with producers directly – either as groups or individuals. Any e-commerce or digital platform is primarily created to facilitate user experience. Right from the start we worked on ensuring this user experience even though we knew that it meant ground work for us. We give them the experience by creating it for them. Once they experience the benefits they take the next step to learning it. It is a long cycle and we knew we will have to stick it out but this is what differentiates from any other player. We are transparent and we are working to empower. We have one-eye on sustainability and the other on social welfare. We have identified our role as administrative and logistics support providers to the craft sector by using the best technology available. We are not afraid to get down and get our hands dirty. We take technology to the people who need it and slowly but surely bring them to speed with it.
Roadmap
Eyaas has been in business for 20 months now. We have taken a call to work only with producer organizations and no trading entities because we want to bring to light the whole process of creation. Our roadmap is fairly simple. We want to first of all cover the maximum range of crafts in India across the country. We also want to work with other organizations especially in our neighboring countries in South-Asia. We are currently dealing with producers in Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia and Rwanda. Given the geo-political situation in the region we are currently facing difficulties dealing with organizations in South-Asia region even though this is something of a priority for us. We want to work with producer groups in the southern hemisphere especially in regions with strife and difficult work environment. We firmly believe that the way to peace lies in construction which is ground up. We especially want to work with women groups because they carry the torch of a living culture. Over time we want to expose Indian audiences to different cultures. We have something beautiful in the way we lead our lives and eyaas is a based on the economics of tolerance and appreciation. We have never been an outward looking nation but we are at a point in out own national evolution where we can offer the world a way of life in instead. It is time to remember all that we have stood for and for us to share our wisdom and knowledge. Through our use of the digital medium, we will be able to cross all political and geographical boundaries. It is time for us to believe, practice and propagate what Gandhi espoused. The way forward, not just for India but for the rest of the developing world, lies in integrating its villages and rural economies to mainstream. India as a nation is in a position to show the world a way forward and that is what our intentions are through eyaas.com. We want to be able to bring different cultures together on a single platform to enjoy the differences. We want to use technology to bring us closer. We believe that culture, environment and economics are inter-related. Through technology we can create this link and deliver on its promises.
Contact
Pallavi Singh Keshri
Falcon IndVenture Pvt. Ltd.
38-B, 2nd Floor, Green Park Extension, Behind Yusuf Sarai Market
New Delhi, India
110016
URL/Website – www.eyaas.com
