Assistant Professor

Commerce

Gauhati Commerce College

 Guwahati, Assam, India 

Abstact

Handloom sector of Assam has its strength in the introduction of innovative designs, which can be replicated by the power loom sector. The handloom forms a part of the heritage of the state and exemplifies the richness and diversity of our state and the artistry of the weavers. Handloom being a state pride its development is primarily the responsibility of the Apex Co-operative Federation which was born with the main motive of organizing handloom weaving and other cottage industries in the state in co-operative basis. The Handicrafts of Assam are world famous for unique traditional methods of production and for tribal art forms. The people of Assam have traditionally been craftsmen. Assam is mostly known  for its exquisite skills and for the bamboo and cane products, several other crafts are also made here. The attractive arts and crafts are a part of natural beauty of Assam. Every such handicraft has been created with the effort of specific tribal groups and this is the fact that Assam’s’ culture is largely shaped by the tribes living in the state.

Keywords: Handicraft, Handloom, craftsmen, weavers, culture

Handloom of Assam is famous for its several types of silk; the most prominent and prestigious bring muga the golden silk exclusive only to this state. Apart from muga there is paat as also eri, the latter bring used in manufacture of warm clothes for winter. Assamese weavers produce beautiful designs on the borders of traditional garments such as the mekhla chaddar and riha and also on the gamosa (towel). Each ethnic group of the state has its own distinctive design and style.  Swalkuchi is the biggest centre of silk production produced only in Assam and also has the largest number of weavers in a way in this state. Bamboo and cane contribute a lot to the economy and lifestyle of Assam. This is mainly because of the fact that the hills and forests of the region have vast expense of bamboos and caves and the natives bring excellent craftsmen that they are have learnt to use them for a wide range of purpose in their life. Assam has a rich collection of traditional jewellery which is unique and attractive particularly of gold jewellery is a tradition in Assam. It also excels in ancient Assamese craft. Metal craft of Assam are also popular for their beauty and strength of form and utility. These products are famous all over India and can be found in almost every Assamese household. Marketing concepts start with the consumer need and behavior. Every action of person is based on needs. Consumer behavior refer to the behavior that consumer display in searching for purchasing using evaluating and disposing of product and service that they expect will satisfy their needs. It is necessary for a marketer to study the consumer behavior so that he would know attitudes, intention desire and psychology of consumers. The handloom sector occupies a distinct and unique place in the economy of the state, besides being the largest generator of the non-farm rural employment. Handicraft and handloom is a growing and vital sector of our country both in terms of generating employment and earning foreign exchange for the country.

Assam Apex weavers and Artisans Co-operative Federation Ltd is a cooperative federation or society. It is a cooperative in which all members are in turn cooperatives. Historically co-operative federation has pre-dominantly come in the form of co-operative wholesale societies and cooperative basis. The area of operation of this Apex co-operative Federation is the entire state of Assam. This cooperative Federation is creating employment opportunities to lakhs of weavers and artisans in Handloom weaving as well as in Handicraft activities throughout the year. It also bears responsibilities on its shoulders for social development of weavers and artisans of the state, apart from economic development, it had expanded its business to a considerable extent.

ARTFED being a co-operative federation Ltd, may either undertake centralized production or, as with the second category of master weavers, advance yarn to the members who work in their own household and receive the finished products from them. However very few societies undertake centralized production. The Federation is also bearing responsibilities in its shoulders for social development of weavers and artisans of the state apart from economic development. It has expanded its business to a considerable extent

Table1: Showing the level of customer satisfaction for ARTFED products

Category of respondents	Number of respondents(50 sample size  )	Percentage of respondents
Highly satisfied	3	6.67%
Satisfied	15	30%
Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied	15	30%
Dissatisfied	15	30%
Highly dissatisfied	2	3.33%
total	50	100%

The above table shows that out of 50 individual, 6.67% of the customers are highly satisfied, 30% are satisfied, 30% are neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 30% are dissatisfied and 3.33% are highly dissatisfied with ARTED products

Table 2 Showing if there are sufficient ARTFED outlets in Guwahati

Category of respondents	Number of respondents(50 sample size  )	Percentage of respondents
No , we do not find many outlets	8	16.67%
No outlet near my locality	7	13.33%
Yes there are sufficient outlets	35	70%
Others	-	0%
total	50	100%

The above table shows that 16.67% customers said they did not find many outlets, 13.33% said said there are no outlet near their locality, while 70% said yes they have sufficient outlets and 0% said others.

Table 3 Showing if any customer finds any problems while dealing with retailers.

Category of respondents	Number of respondents	Percentage of respondents
YES	5	10%
NO	45	90%
Total	50	100%

The above table shows that 90% of the customers in this study said that they found no problem while dealing with the retailers of ARTFED and 10% customers faced problems

Table 4 Showing how the customers are influenced to buy ARTFED products

Category of respondents	Number of respondents	Percentage of respondents
Media	2	3.33%
Words of mouth	45	90%
Bill boards	-	-
Others	3	6.67%
total	50	100%

In the study 90% of the customers are influenced to buy ARTFED products by words of mouth, 6.67% by other sources and 3.33% by media. No person is influence by bill boards.

Table 4 Showing suggestions to the government for helping in the survival of ARTFED

Category of customers	a                        b    suggestions                             c                                   d
yes	Subsidize the products	Relaxation on duties and taxes	Outlets at village area	Exhibition & trade fair
yes	47(93.33%)	47(93.33%)	3(6.67%)	47(93.33%)
no	3(6.67%)	3(6.67%)	47(93.33%)	3(6.67%)
total	50	50	50	50
percentage	100%	100%	100%	100%

The study shows that 93.33% of the customer said that government should subsidize the products of ARTFED, relax the taxes and help in trade fair organization. Whereas, 6.67% of the customers said that the ARTFED outlets should also be opened in village level or village area.

ARTFED has become traditional in its approach of production and accounting for cost with little attention for effective and efficient cost management. It has not been able to gain competitive edge by manufacturing products of high quality at lowest cost. It is manufacturing the same product with least attention to sweeping changes that are taking place in the tastes and habits of the customers only in the local markets. It is inevitable to continue its existence for the benefits of rural masses weaving the products as weaving is their source of livelihood. But due to the problems faced by the handloom industry, ARTFED has to lay more emphasis on formulating a rigid marketing strategy which only revolve around the main aim of profit maximization and employment generation. ARTFED products are sold in the business premises and the method of online sale has not been started yet. Moreover direct personal selling is adopted and no representatives are involved. Advertisement plays an important role in attracting the customers and television, internet and other electronic media is used. The number of emporiums in Guwahati is only three but that isn’t sufficient as per the marketing manager and so ARTFED aims to open a few more outlets in the city. The current pricing structure of the organization includes discounts and rebates to attract customers and is constantly working towards the improvement in Quality, availability, innovation and other associated factors. For promoting markets in the internal markets, ARTFED conducts exhibitions and fairs and expo for increasing the awareness of their products among the masses. After studying consumer behavior approach towards handlooms industries and its products attempts should be made to make the process of production more capital intensive rather than labour intensive. As men and women weavers of this industry take painstaking efforts for completing the products so they are to be awarded with better pay wages, which will be possible only when there is an increase in the amount of profit and an efficient marketing strategy is very essential. Also the consumers will be satisfied when a large variety of best quality produced goods will be offered to them at a low prize. On the account of the decreasing popularity of handloom and handicraft products, ARTFED has dive4rsified and also started the production of innovative dress materials and handicrafts.

Conclusion

The handloom and handicraft sector has great market opportunities if it is ready to take them. Products of ARTFED, which are made by using organic cotton yarn and natural dyes, are in high demand in the developed nation and the upper segments of the society who are very much healthier conscious. For this kind of products research and development training and knowledge sharing are vital components or requirements. The marketing strategy of ARTFED is totally based on the satisfaction of the customers and it has effective solutions for the problems faced by the organization in selling the products, promotion, training etc. The study focuses on how ARTFED has been suffering from various problems like high competition from mill –made products and power loom products, lack of finance, lack of government assistance etc. Thus ARTFED has to fulfill several difficult objectives and also think about the survival of the sector in the modern market.

Reference

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