Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) are business entities that not just drive our economy, but in more ways than one are its backbone. Making their Prime Day debut this year are 75,000+ local neighbourhood offline shops on Amazon, in addition to the 6.8 lakh women entrepreneurs from Amazon Saheli and more than 12 lakh artisans and weavers from Amazon Karigar. As they all gear up for Prime Day, we spoke to them to understand why this event is so important to them and what they expect from it.

‘Saheli gave me a platform, Prime Day will give reach’

2400+ new products by small businesses this Prime Day
Read more

Making contemporary versions of a craft that dates to back to hundreds of years and then taking this wondrous art to a pan Indian audience is something that Parul Bajoria, founder of Miharu, which creates Dhokra art product, is excited about. She says, "Miharu will be taking an age-old Dhokra craft to lakhs of people, through Prime Day Sale. I am proud of what I’ve created, but what matters is getting the audience that Dhokra craft deserves. The Amazon Saheli program has given me this platform and Prime Day will enhance this reach.” Miharu has popularised Dhokra art by making contemporary products for the urban socially conscious woman and is launching unique products for Prime Day. "The visibilty and jump in sales for us will be exponential on Prime Day and we are hence looking forward to it," says Parul.

Prime Day is also an event that Dr. Aneesh Sheth, CEO of popular skincare brand, Dr Sheth, is looking forward to. A Launchpad seller, Dr Sheth is immensely proud of his product and is a keen observer of the online space to promote all his unique products. While the pandemic did his see products jump in sales, he says the interest and awareness in natural skincare has increased immensely overall which is why he is eager to see a more than 2x sale on Prime Day this year. Echoing this optimism is another Launchpad seller Arjun Sood, is the founder of Dream of Glory - a clothing brand that makes women and men’s fashion garments for every size including Plus sizes. “I want everyone in India to wear the amazing cotton that is manufactured by us. We have 3 other brands selling on Amazon - Laavian, Zuperb and Zuperb Lingerie, and I am expecting a 4x growth on Prime Day.”

Meanwhile Ashwini Shriyal, founder of DeBelle, a 5-year-old brand that makes natural, toxic-free, cruelty-free cosmetics, says that her brand has grown well on Amazon and that “DeBelle is launching new SKUs on Prime Day.” So look out for their new range of shampoo bars and bath soaps!

‘Creating awareness’

While many sellers are looking to increase sales and launch new products on Prime Day, some like Local Shops seller Subhash says an event like this can help create awareness. “My brand Pooja ki Potli is on Amazon and sells raw material and accessories to make DIY products. DIY is a category that grew exponentially during the pandemic. Prime Day is not only a huge opportunity for us to sell twice our daily target, but also to create and increase awareness of our brand and its products. Last year on Prime Day the sales for Pooja ki Potli went up to 100 units per day from 10 units a day!”

Helping a community

Prime Day is also an event that artisans are looking forward to. Atish, a seller who is part of the Amazon Karigar program, says, “I run Kalapuri, an NGO that sells traditional and heritage clothes and accessories from Maharashtra. Kalapuri procures the raw material, distributes it to the 12 self help groups (SHG) created by them and they manufacture Kolhapuri chappals, jewellery, turbans, sarees and handmade baskets. The early part of the pandemic was a tough time for us, but we were able to distribute grocery kits to every craftsman and artisan in our NGO-run self-help groups to sustain them. We look forward to an extremely profitable Amazon Prime Day sale this year,” says Atish.