Kanpur’s leather goods exporters go local to boost business in these tough times

The Kanpur leather products renowned for its production of beautiful and some of the finest shoes, jackets, belts, wallets and purses in the country and abroad has been gradually adapting with help of technology during this pandemic. One of the oldest crafts is moving away from the traditional model of business transaction, which was mainly offline, and it has aggressively turned online.

In these unprecedented times, bringing a paradigm shift, several leather product manufacturers in Kanpur have started using the digital platform to sell their products. For those manufacturers, who were already using social media platforms to promote their sales have gone a step and have also launched their websites to boost their sales. With export being severely hit, the leather goods exporters from Kanpur, decided to reach their consumers directly. This has not only helped them in sustaining themselves, in fact this also gave them an opportunity to identify and develop a newer market for their products.
Danish Sabir, owner of RNG Exports and the manufacturer of leather belts, handbags and wallets, is one such businessman. “Before the lockdown Europe was the main market for me. When the scene was normal we exported belts, handbags and wallets for some of the most expensive brands in the world. But things changed during the lockdown. Europe was under a strict lockdown and we had no orders. Things were so bad that my production went down by one third. With downfall in production I had to rethink about new business strategies and that’s when I decided to explore the open market by reaching the consumers directly. We have already started direct sales of our products and soon we will be setting up an online platform where our customers can buy our products directly,” says Danish.
(BCCL)
Mohammad Kamran, owner of Leather Paradise Exports, says, “Most of the leather product makers used to focus on overseas business but corona times proved that local market also has huge potential. The demand pattern and styling of local market is entirely different from the foreign market but it has the power to keep our business going. I manufacture boots for women and now soon my products will be available online.”
Omar Farooq, owner of Country Line shoes has also gone online to sell his products. “On the business front I saw a lot of uncertainty during the lockdown. In such a scenario it’s only the local market which can help us sustain. Now we have no other option but to approach our customers directly,” says Omar, adding, “Providing my products to the clients directly is not only helping me keep business afloat but also retain my staff.”
And not just going online, manufacturers, who were earlier only into exports have now opened their(BCCL) showrooms in Kanpur. A few are also looking into franchise outside the city. Some business is better than no business is the motto they have adopted in these times.
For example Paras Khurana owner of Zebba, which specialises in women and kids footwear, has tied up with fashion websites for selling their products directly to the customers. “Before the lockdown we were completely into exports but now we are majorly in the Indian market. Presently eighty to eighty five percent of our production is going into the local market. We have tied up with websites to sell our products. We are not just manufacturing for them in fact we are also displaying our footwear directly on their websites. This has really given a boost to our business and we are doing well even during these trying times,” shares Khurana.
“The entire leather industry will collapse if we would not go local. Business conditions overseas are still not favourable and in such a situation we have to go local. Seeing the present situation of exports we have also entered into the local market. We have recently opened a showroom in Kanpur where customers can buy our products directly. Also we are planning to expand our network with franchise model in other cities of the country,” shares, Prabhodh Sharma, the chief operating officer at AKI Exports.