“In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will follow.” We couldn’t agree more. People love Kashmir, are mesmerized by its spell binding beauty and haute couture of art and crafts. We wish to give them this experience of Kashmir while they are cozying up in their living room couches. Giving them a feel of Kashmir, at their home is what Kashmir Box New theme is all about. The customer should get this real feeling of being in Kashmir, window shopping the crafts while exploring the streets of downtown, hand picking their favorite charms of Kashmir, all through our website.
Kashmir Box 3.0
Kashmir Box launched into version 3.0 with the following roadmap in mind. We aim to achieve the following milestones we have set for us.
Skill Development – We are determined to raise the quality of skill development in Kashmir to match the global standards.
New Economic Model – We believe in an economic model that is transparent with equitable distribution of profits wherein the community develops as a whole.
Mapping Supplies – We are in the process of mapping productsand crafts to its original producers and source.
Finance – We will be investing into different processes and raising funds for marketing, building warehouses, team building and more.
Customization – We will have customization solutions for almost every product that is of Kashmir. You just name it and we will have it done for you.
Glocalization – We are developing products matching both local and global standards while customizing the same according to specific geographies.
Multimedia Center – A high tech multimedia center is underway to develop digital content to bring people closer to the heritage and artisan community of Kashmir. Carrying forward on the artisan and craft videos, making people aware the multimedia center will be a content generation center for all stakeholders as well as customers.
Organizing the Unorganized – Organizing what is unorganized; getting in line all the traditional products of Kashmir and their respective supply chains.
Real Time Karma – Our platform will be enabled with options in order for our artisans to be profit shareholders in real time. Customers can opt for a minimum of 5% as a pledge while we at our end will pledge for a maximum of 5%. This real-time royalty would be credited into their respective accounts once their product is sold through any of our sales channels.
Warehouse – Our scaling up operations will include setting up and operating new warehouses.
Why the new theme then, you ask?
Since our very inception we realized that the problems that we are addressing are huge. Since inception we have maintained a discipline of brainstorming the problems at hand on a daily basis. For these discussions we use behavioral analysis of our customers on our website, social media, engagement with customers through other channels and for KB 3.0, we broadly narrowed it down to three points.
- One the customer was not getting the essence of our representation.
- The customers were not getting a user-friendly shopping experience.
- Except for the product line, nothing of our website spoke of Kashmir.
The solution our team came up with was:
- The first thing our customer should engage with is our identity, that being Kashmir. Not the products, not the offers but the spell bound beauty of Kashmir.
- The product page and the navigation of website need to be effortlessly user friendly and intuitive.
- People love our stories and we have had such a positive response to our social media and blogs, we must incorporate the same to our website.
Analyzing deeper, making the necessary changes, the time now has come for this new theme for Kashmir Box 3.0 that we believe is a game changer in this ocean of commerce and its social impact.
What’s special in this theme?
Feel Kashmir
Once you are on the site, you are taken directly to the enchanting landscapes of Kashmir. You will get to see the beauty of Kashmir through the mesmerizing seasons of the year.
Intuitive Interface
Next, we have a more user friendly interface. The product page is focused and easy to navigate. It has new added features for customization and trade queries.
Story of Kashmir
The story of Kashmir unfolds in the new theme itself. Every month we will have a story each on the Artisan and Craft. In addition, stories featuring traditions and heritage of Kashmir will be rolled out every two weeks. This initiative is to educate our customers of and about Kashmir – its people and heritage.
Customization Sprees
We already had customization options for our products in the old theme; however it was not quite visible to the customer. With a more user friendly customization option, it is now very much within the reach of our valued customer. Our backend is ready to customize all, be it the products online, or gift hampers, we have customization solutions for everyone. With Kashmir Box, any kind of customization with regards to arts, crafts and produce is possible. Creativity has no limits and imagination can fly to the highest skies. Whatever is in your mind, we will have it in hand for you :)
Bulk Orders
Buying in bulk with us is now an easy process. Hassle free and without having to fill out the elaborate forms! We know how hard that was for our bulk buyers. Now we have an easy bulk buy option in the form of Trade Query on each product. You can add as many products to the Bulk Cart as you like. Also working with the artisan directly we have competitive trade prices for bulk buyers.
Brand Stores
A unique brand store for our artisans is featured in this new theme. These brand stores are the virtual shops of these artisan showcasing their products and story.
Changed Category Structure
We have changed the entire category structure. From our customer feedback, we realized that it was hard for some customers to find particular products. The problem lied in the category structure as presented to an unaware customer. Hence, we sorted out the entire product range and came up with a more intuitive category structure, easy to use and navigate for the customer.
Easy Filters
Lastly, to make customer navigation throughout the site easy and effortless, the new theme comes with easy to use filters for men and women in all categories.
Our New Logo
Kashmir Box started off as a marketplace for selling Kashmir Art and Craft products. However, the concept gradually evolved into a more beautiful and complex idea. This new idea could not connect to the previous logo and we knew we had to incorporate it in a new logo. Therefore, a new logo for a new identity!
So what is our New Logo about?
Kashmir arts and crafts have a deep rooted hub in Downtown, Srinagar. If you go around downtown, you will find the traditional architecture of Kashmir still alive in its houses and buildings in abundance. Our new logo revolves around this architectural element of Kashmir, the traditional Khatamband. Khatamband is an art of making ceiling, by fitting small pieces of walnut or deodar wood into each other in geometrical patterns; done entirely with hands without use of nails, the wood is processed, cut into panels and fixed in the ceiling in various floral and geometrical designs.
Our logo incorporates the various elements of our community. Each khatamband panel represents a community of artisans, growers and producers. The spaces in between are the abstract global access that we are providing to them, the open box is the global audience that connects to it. It’s a symbol of nurturing a community and raising our collective selves to a better life together.