Co-optex uses web to boost sales

CHENNAI: In a bid to remain relevant to the new age shopper and to cater to India's growing taste for online shopping, Tamil Nadu Handloom Weavers' Co-operative Society, popularly known as Co-optex, is undergoing a big facelift. Co-optex has jumped on to the e-commerce bandwagon, launching online shopping services on its website. "We get about four or five orders every day, and have got close to 123 orders till December 2014 (totalling over Rs three lakh), including from places like Singapore. In addition to selling on our own portal, we are planning to list our products on sites like Flipkart, Gocoop and Craftsvilla," Venkatesh said.The government-owned agency has also launched a range of contemporary kurtis for young girls and silk shirts for young men, attempting to broaden its customer base. Co-optex makes a range of sarees and home furnishings, catering primarily to middle-aged people, and the new product range will help Co-optex target younger customers and college-going students. Co-optex has set up a design studio and has hired four designers to make products that would draw young customers to the stores. If the products do well, we will launch more products for young men and women, TN Venkatesh, managing director of Co-optex said. The company is also looking at other ways to involve youngsters and will soon launch a contest where college-going students can design clothes that can be made by Co-optex. Also on the cards is kids-wear, Venkatesh said.Co-optex is also planning to bring to its stable products from West Bengal. Co-optex has forged a swap agreement with Tantuja, the West Bengal State Handloom Weavers' Co-operative Society under which the two agencies will buy and retail each other's products."We will buy Bengal cotton sarees from them and sell it in our stores and they will buy our products including home furnishing like 'jamakalams' (a fine cotton carpet woven in pit looms with a multi coloured cross bar effect on both sides) which are popular in hilly areas like Siliguri and Darjeeling ," Venkatesh said.With these initiatives, Co-optex is targeting revenue of Rs 340 crore for the current year. Co-optex earned revenue of Rs 301 crore last year, one of the highest amongst the state handloom weavers cooperative societies in India, Venkatesh said.