ONGOLE: While the pandemic-induced lockdown led many to bankruptcy, women of Chirala town used the time to master marketing through social media and turn their business profitable. In the absence of transportation, several adopted WhatsApp messaging platform to effectively market their handloom sarees and clothing, yielding profits.
The town, which goes by the moniker ‘Mini Mumbai’, has around 1,500 wholesale and retail handloom businesses that employ 3,500 weavers from Chirala, Chinnaganjam and Eepurupalem. When the lockdown was imposed, the sector almost came to a standstill forcing the women to think innovatively to revive their fortunes.
Valiveti Vamsi, who co-owns Chirala Saree Shop on Swarna Road with his wife, told TNIE he has seen unprecedented growth in the customer base. “We started online sales of Chirala handloom sarees about five or six years ago. However, the business and the model picked up only recently, especially after the lockdown was announced. As many business activities were restricted, we thought we could effectively use WhatsApp as a platform to help our business sustain. My wife started it and many customers liked the idea, and we gradually were able to market our products to a number of new customers. We have a customer base of more than one lakh,” he said.
J Lakshmi, from Vetapalem near Chirala, said she and three of her partners sell 300-350 handloom sarees every month through the messaging platform, and each of them earns Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 after spending Rs 15,000 towards expenses. Lalitha, another businesswoman, said one of the many advantages of running an online business is it negates the geographical constraints of customers.
“Our customers call us on the phone and enquire about new and latest products. We send pictures to them on WhatsApp. After selecting their choice, they pay us through GooglePay or PhonePe or even through online banking. After receipt of the money, we send them the stock through a courier service. If we have bulk orders, we dispatch them through a parcel service. We have customers in Chennai, Bengaluru, and even in the US, too,” she said. For Usha, teething problems helped her overcome contingency issues faster.
“In the beginning, we found it to be very difficult to contact customers through phone calls and send photos of our collection and explain about the quality and features that have gone into manufacturing these sarees. However, as days passed the customers recognised our efforts in bringing the best quality to them and we saw a gradual increase in orders. We have around 2,000 women who take orders online and execute them through couriers. Many women have found employment through this system,” Usha remarked.