Ease of Doing Business for MSMEs: Global e-commerce marketplace for handcrafted items, Etsy today announced Pankaj Jathar as its Vice President and Country Head for India.
According to the company’s statement, Jathar will concentrate on mobilizing the creative community and determining growth opportunities in India while scaling its marketplace capabilities.
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“[Etsy] has created economic opportunities for millions of people around the world, and I am thrilled to be able to contribute to this mission and support Indian creators in harnessing their full potential,” Jathar said in the statement. He was previously the CEO of Prione, a joint venture between Amazon and private equity fund Catamaran. In fact, during his stint at Amazon from 2011 to 2017 he led multiple functions, including being a part of the team that launched Amazon in India.
In a written reply, Etsy India stated sellers in India focus on categories including apparel, jewellery, and home and living items.
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In fact, to onboard more small and medium businesses (SMBs) on their marketplace, Etsy added the Indian rupee to the Etsy Payments platform in 2022 to provide a localised checkout for Indian buyers. The payment platform allows customers across the globe to pay for goods in their local currency which is then transferred to the bank account of the seller.
To further support small sellers, Etsy signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the North Eastern Handicrafts and Handloom Development Corporation in May 2022 to support weavers and artisans from the North East of India. It also has an initiative Saksham to train artisans and entrepreneurs in digital skills such as online branding, photography amongst others.
The NASDAQ-listed firm entered India in 2018 to create a global marketplace for local artisans in India. The platform claims that women sellers make up 87 per cent of its merchant base.
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