Co-optex eyes youth with new products, online sales

Co-optex, the apex body for the handloom sector in Tamil Nadu, is gearing up to catapult to the big league.

As it seeks to draw more women, particularly the young, and compete with the likes of Nalli and Pothys, Co-optex has grand makeover plans which include online retailing, store revamp, product evaluation by women, IT solutions for monitoring supply chain, and newer product categories – at an investment of Rs 100 crore.

The organisation, which was set up in 1935, promotes over 1,175 handloom weaver co-operative societies, supporting 2 lakh 30,000 weavers in Tamil Nadu. It runs 209 showrooms across the country with a total retail turnover of Rs 200 crore. This year, it has set itself an ambitious target of Rs 800 crore – Co-optex’s Managing Director, Mr C. Umashankar, admits it is a tall order but he adds it is time Co-optex raised the bar and moved fast.

“We are famous for blankets. But not many know we have beautiful silk saris in various designs and colours, at affordable prices. We also have premium organic clothing for children. We need to draw more women to our shops,” says Mr Umashankar.

For the last few weeks, college students in Chennai have been engaged in reviewing products. Soon home-makers and working women will be roped in for product evaluation. A store revamp is also on the cards. All these efforts will be backed by a high-volume ad campaign across print and TV.

While the products are in place, the problem lies in monitoring and replenishing stock, says Mr Umashankar. “We will invest in IT solutions and a GPRS enabled point-of-sale device – the moment a piece is sold, we will move that product from other stores or manufacture more. We will also be able to know the best-selling and non-moving products.”

The process has already begun with the provision of a unique serial number to each design. This will be followed by bar-coding soon.

Elcot, the state government promotional agency for IT industries, has prepared a tender document for inviting bids for revamping technology solutions.

Co-optex will also get into online sale of products in India and abroad. Mr Umashankar hopes an online presence will give a push to exports, which currently contributes only Rs 5 crore to overall sales.

Co-optex currently sells 1,00,000 silk and 3,00,000 cotton saris every year across its showrooms, apart from home linen, men’s and children’s apparel. More products are in the pipeline.

Apart from retail business, Co-optex also gets Rs 400 crore business from the state government for its free sari and dhoti schemes. It will also be supplying salwar kameez for uniform in government schools for Rs 50 crore. “But there are strings attached when you work with government. It takes more time and gives less profits. The thrust therefore will be on retail showrooms,” says Mr Umashankar.

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