THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The arrival of Amazon and Flipkart has changed the shopping habits of Malayalees. Irrevocably. From high value goods to sneakers, they prefer e-commerce platforms to a scramble to shops. Now, the state Industries Department is all set to tap Keralites’ newfound fixation with online purchasing.
Now, they can order some archetypal Kerala dishes - jackfruit, cashew and seafood products - online. The department is in talks with e-commerce majors, micro small/medium enterprise industries registered with the departments and various regulatory agencies to promote state’s products under a common brand.
“We have held discussions with e-commerce companies. No other state has attempted such a tie-up. If everything goes well, it will be a huge boost for product manufacturing ventures in the state,” said P M Francis, director of Industries and Commerce. He admitted that building a single brand was not easy.
The biggest annual business-to-business meet, ‘Vyapar-2017’, to be held in the first week of February at Kochi, has been chosen as the platform to create the brand building mechanism among the product manufacturers. “Assured quality is the prerequisite for a good brand.
Manufacturers attending ‘Vyapar’ will be given awareness sessions by the Food Safety and Pollution Control Board officials on the standards to be maintained. A manufacturer who wishes to be part of the project should have own website and email address. Those who excel at promoting their products online or become a brand in their own right have the option to move out of common branding,” he said.
Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM) will be part of the brand building exercise and provide IT support. Francis said the department was also mulling to start an e-commerce platform of its own. “The department’s website is getting spruced up to promote smoother delivery of its services,” he said.
Kerala is the 7th largest exporting state in India contributing $4.8 billion during 2015-16. The state has around 2.5 lakh small scale industries registered with the department. The state government is also looking to boost the MSME sector to create more employment opportunities for the youth and help farmers get better price for their produce.
A Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation, study has identified marine and food products, plywood, textile, rubber, carpets and others as having the potential for diversification. It also gives a roadmap to the state government to achieve its target of 5 percent share in India’s exports in the next five years.