E-Commerce Start-Up Niiyaa To Showcase Artisans’ Work Globally

Niiyaa, the brainchild of Aditi Tewari and Anurag Shrivastava is dedicated to create a grand Indian and international community of creators and consumers in the space of handcrafted luxury. Founded in 2021, today Niiyaa has over 500 artisans across India to bring the handcrafts onto their e-commerce platform with a vision to bring textiles with optimum utility and quality for a large pool of audience globally to transform craftsmen into a brand in themselves. They plan to expand this and reach over 1000 artisans in the coming years and later aim to become a platform for any artisan from across the globe. The company is on a mission to showcase artisans’ work globally and uplift the lives of the Artisan Community.

Niiyaa is bringing art from remote corners of the world mesmerizing clothing from Marrakesh to Kalamkari panels from Srikalahasti, handwoven Bhujodi panels embellished with Bandhani and Rabari embroidery. Ornamented with the finest art forms, sounds and sights of the intriguing desert come alive in each splendidly unique wrap made by artisans. Then there is Jamdani, warm woollens and a plethora of products. “All the collections are a unique interpretation of the essence of the brand. Niiyaa is soon launching various products categories such as Stoles, Scarves, kaftans, shrugs, Handbags, Jewellery, Coats, Dresses, Jackets amongst others. Every handmade piece has a story to tell, a story of their tradition, of their history, of the emotions they carry while producing the piece. The list is endless. Our team of in-house designers work hard with artisans to make one of its kind products. We have also got finer in reaching the right audience based in the US, Canada, UAE, and some parts of Europe,” said Anurag Shrivastava, co- founder and CEO, Niiyaa.

“We have ventured into the artisanal world and consumers across the globe with over 15 signature handcrafts. Our artisans get their fair share much before the product reaches the consumer and thus their healthy monetization is well ahead of time. In fact, Niiyaa is taking the risk of carrying the inventory, to ensure that our artisan partners are insulated from market fluctuations and get monetized way ahead. A sad yet true fact is that while buying a handcrafted product, a consumer very rarely knows the story behind the handmade product. So, a very large percentage of consumers don’t realize the extent of workmanship, hard work and passion that's gone into a particular craft. To ensure that we can support this community, we continue travelling and absorbing ideas and inspiration from everywhere and we are into this for a longer run,” said Aditi Tewari, Founder, Niiyaa. They invest handsomely on beautiful photography and social, and digital marketing in various way. Their monetization happens when the product is sold in the market, either on their channel or by their partners. At the moment, they are focusing more on reaching the right consumers and creating the brand awareness for Niiyaa.

 
Niiyaa had gone live amidst the pandemic and this experience has added to their journey that has seen ups and downs. However, they have garnered a great amount of learning at every step.  Speaking on the marketing plans, Anurag said that they had started initially with digital marketing on most popular digital platforms and they would continue to do so with more focus and refinement with their past learnings and experiences. Additionally, they plan to engage in other forms of marketing channels such as influencers and offline channels in the near future.

 “Over the past few years, there are several platforms which have come online focussing on this space, but scaling up those ventures globally has its share of pain and loss, both in terms of geography as well as financially. We also strongly believe that it’s our duty to build a sustainable world for our next generation and moving towards slow fashion and handmade products is one such attempt. In today's world, high quality handcrafted products with a modern language are still not as accessible to the world,” said Aditi.

The brand is also working with makers from countries in Asia to Africa and every country in between. In the next few years, the founders want to make Niiyaa the largest platform for highly curated fine handcrafts belonging to the remotest places on earth, and reaching to any continent, to a base of users who truly believe in human connections. They are very positive to work for this purpose-driven cause and see huge potential in this arena.