Minister for Industries and Commerce, Chander Prakash Ganga has stressed for proper branding and bar-coding of the products to build customer trust.This was stated by the Minister while speaking at the 120th meeting of the Board of Directors of J&K Handicrafts (S&E) Corporation Limited held here today.Mr. Ganga, who is also the chairman of the Board urged devising strategies to ensure increase in customer traffic to showrooms. For this purpose, he called for building customer trust by branding the products to be showcased at various Art Emporiums established in different cities.Minister of State, Industries and Commerce, Mohammad Ashraf Mir also attended the meeting.The Minister urged closing down of loss making units (sales outlets) of the J&K Handicrafts (Sales and Export) Corporation besides stressed on utilizing the human resource properly to enhance sales at other important outlets.The Minister also called for restructuring of the corporation in a manner in which it becomes capable of making the corporation a profit earning unit and in promoting the local artisans.
While stressing on brand promotion, the Minister said that it needs to be utilized as a marketing tool to boost sales turnover of the Corporation. He said effective and constant performance monitoring and target revision on monthly basis can be pivotal for improving the fiscal base of the Corporation.The Managing Director, I. H. Drabu while briefing about the performance of the Corporation said that the Corporation has put in place very strong monitoring mechanism, accountability and support to the sales outlets to achieve the set target viz-a-viz to enhance resource generation. The Corporation has succeeded in increasing sales turn over for the last 4 years by allowing incentives by way of facilitation charges to Tour & Travel operators to augment the flow of tourists to its showrooms.
The board was informed by the Managing Director that during the financial year 2014-15, the Corporation has registered sales turnover of Rs 1636 Lacs against target of Rs 1800 Lacs, thus achieved 91 percent of the annual target. The sales target of the Corporation for the financial year 2015-16 has been fixed at Rs 1900 Lacs for its 20 branches.It was also informed that the Corporation is in the touch with few e-shopping designers to launch e-commerce websites to enable it to sell the products online apart from the physical stores to facilitate sales of the Corporation.The meeting accorded approval for the renovation of Art Emporium at Mumbai in order to make the branch presentable and to compete with present market scenario.The Commissioner/ Secretary Industries and Commerce, Shailendra Kumar, Special Secretary, Finance, Arun Kumar Sharma, Director General Budget, Finance Department, Ishaq Wani, Director, Handicrafts Department, Gazanffar Ali, President, Kashmir Chamber of Industry & Commerce, Mushtaq Ahmad Wani, Managing Director, J&K Handicrafts (S&E) Corporation Limited, I. H. Drabu and concerned officers were also present in the meeting.