MSME Ministry launches online shopping portal of NSIC

Our cost is low that is why people will prefer buying from us, says Kalraj Mishra

Union Minister Kalraj Mishra today launched the e-commerce shopping portal of National Small Industries Corporation, on which MSMEs will be able to sell retail products as well as industrial equipment online.

The business to consumer website, www.msmeshopping.com, is meant exclusively for products sourced from Indian micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and will serve as a low-cost marketing platform for them.

"This portal is exclusively dedicated to Indian MSMEs. Our cost is low that is why people will prefer buying from us. We need to spread awareness about this portal," Mishra told reporters on the sidelines of the launch here.

The MSME Minister added that marketing has always been a very expensive affair and MSMEs find it difficult to source big budgets on advertisements, brand building and maintaining sales distribution channels.

"This results in larger dependence on middle-men who eat away their (MSME's) profit margin," Mishra said.

Elaborating on the portal, NSIC CMD H P Kumar said: "There are other portals available in the country, but their (registration) cost is very high, it is prohibitive. We have cut down the cost, the registration fee is Rs 5,000 for one year, irrespective of the number or value of products sold. We don't charge transaction charges".

On the marketing plans, Kumar said: "We are planning to launch country-wide publicity campaigns. We are also going to launch a campaign for suppliers' interaction with MSME Associations. We have started with 110 suppliers and about 1,000 products. But I am sure that over a period of one year, we are going to add at least 3,000 to 5,000 suppliers".

Major features of the portal are online registration, web store management, popular products section, multi-product cart, online buying and selling, customer support through call center, attractive range of products, competitive price, payment gateway for membership subscription and enhanced security features.