How Gwalior’s iTokri became international e-tailer of handcrafted fabrics & artworks
A handwritten note on a piece of recycled paper plus a hand-made trinket or pen is what one receives along with every order from Gwalior-based iTokri, an online store of handcrafted fabrics, jewellery, paintings and other artworks. Just like its little free gift, all the products in iTokri’s catalogue are unique and especially crafted for the brand, which has been doubling its revenues every year since launch in 2012. The small town retailer has achieved all this without following the typical e-commerce template of being a marketplace.
A handwritten note on a piece of recycled paper plus a hand-made trinket or pen is what one receives along with every order from Gwalior-based iTokri, an online store of handcrafted fabrics, jewellery, paintings and other artworks. Just like its little free gift, all the products in iTokri’s catalogue are unique and especially crafted for the brand, which has been doubling its revenues every year since launch in 2012. The small town retailer has achieved all this without following the typical e-commerce template of being a marketplace.
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But Dutta says an inventory model offers some
advantages. “The biggest benefit is that you have the
complete control over curating a product as well as its
production and branding. This helps build a consistent
customer experience,” Dutta adds.
Besides, when products are not generic, there are
significant margin advantages to retailers. A case in
point is itokri masks, the largest variety of which can be
found on the online shopping site. From hand-woven
handspun Eri silk natural-dyed masks to
Lucknowi chikankari and ajrakh print cotton masks,
the retailer has them all.
Also Read: How Coimbatore’s organic cosmetics startup
reached 30 countries
“There is a huge amount of margin play in that. If you
are a marketplace, the major margin in such a case will
go to the merchant and you will only receive the regular
commission for usage of the platform. But if you own
the inventory, you can decide the margin and selling
price,” Dutta says.
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