Tell us about your company. Its vision and mission.
Through NUKKAD.org, we bring to you handcrafted décor, kitchen utility products and indigenous toys from various corners of India in a contemporary avatar. Growing up, we have lost touch with some basic lifestyle choices which had the most positive impact on the quality of our life & wellbeing, especially serene mental health. For example, just go back and imagine for few seconds a simple scenario of playing in the afternoon winter sun surrounded by a plethora of simple wooden toys. Even reminiscing that lifestyle feels profound when compared to a gadget bound day filled with your apps, phones or your children playing only in front of the screens. The serenity of quality time with physical toys in the veranda of the house or even in the colony streets with other children eludes us in current times. Instead of getting lost in the memories of the past, Nukkad.org thought of giving you a whiff of that nostalgia through our products and company philosophy. And we bring you a unique blend of culturally inspired designs in our toys, décor and utility products with a hint of minimalism, premium quality and yet an earthy feel to it.
These décor, kitchenware handicrafts and Indian toys will surely make you re-live some of your best local childhood memories even as an adolescent.
Even though the world becomes extremely connected through technology, we have increasingly started feeling disconnected from our own roots and soothing
lifestyle. We consume items that are more global in nature. But Nukkad.org believes, we cannot be international until we celebrate and take pride in what is national.
Hailing from the country where we celebrate so many art forms, we decided to honour them in their most authentic essence.
Nukkad.org works closely with artisans, both men, and women, who are the backbone of our mission. These artisans belong to various states and city across Indian and bring forwards the representation of local handicrafts and art from these corners for our customers. Our aim to celebrate the magic in their hands in making some authentic wooden toys, wooden and glass kitchenware and tribal culture-inspired décor products which are further revived and revisited to fit in the modern Indian way of life.
We share concerns about our planet and put our best foot forward to ensure that we do everything to keep it healthy and earthy which anyways comes naturally to Indian ways! The motto is to do our bit for our planet, indigenous culture, our crafts and artisans of our land. We work with wood, recycled glass, clay, and a range of organic mediums.
Our Vision:
At Nukkad.org, we offer an array of premium home decor, utility products, and toys representing Indian handicrafts, art and culture that will heighten not only your mood but also the corners of your house! Our curated collection of in-house handcrafted products celebrates the rich cultural legacy of India. In this endeavour, a number of local craftsmen have joined our team, and together we work hard to make sure that their cultural handicraft form thrives and prospers. The goal is to move towards conscious consumption that amalgamates aesthetics and utility. Our products are made of organic substances like wood, recycled glass, clay, recycled metal, Indian Marble (Sangemarmar), Wicker /Cane.
Our Mission:
India is historically gifted when it comes to handicrafts, and we want to reiterate that through our work! As global as we get, we wanted to ensure that we celebrate our own individuality first. For our children, we are bringing back the toys that we grew up with. We are working hard to bring ethnic India to our urban homes. Be it our favourite wooden lagori/satolia set, Asthaa Changa game in a convenient wooden board, or that vintage model bullock cart, dive in and enjoy the good ol’ India with our family especially our children.
Our mission is to encourage global consciousness in our lifestyles, support local crafts, and most importantly, find beauty in the subtleties and nuances of our own lifestyle and art forms.
What were the constraints you faced at the time of inception?
To train the small business owners and craftswomen and artisans to learn packaging, logistics and other business practices to be able to procure and create a product selection from various regions of the country...
Covid situations further made all these interactions possible only via phone calls versus an in-person visit and training
Putting out a message about the products and the brands also by optimising resources under constraint.
Further, website creation and management were also handled in-house by limited team size. But all these constraints were handled head-on
Tell us about your products.
NUKKAD.org is an Indian e-commerce website set up to provide an online platform for Indian handicrafts to offer products in the category of home décor, Kitchenutilities as well as Indian Toys
These products are mostly handmade and all are made by Indian artisans and small businesses out of wood, clay, recycled glass, recycled metal, Indian Marble and wicker/cane.
Nukkad.org brings products like wood being used in modern-day kitchenware from artisans in Uttar Pradesh, wicker and cane baskets from Kashmir and Agartala; wooden décor crafts from regions of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat which appeal to the urban crowd for home décor as well as utility, metal handicrafts which are made in India, even something like as well as handmade wooden toys. Some toys will definitely ring a bell to your childhood nostalgia. We also bring forth Indian Makhrana marble products both in-home utility areas as well as décor from a small town of Rajasthan called Makhrana
What do you feel are the three most essential qualities for a retail associate to possess?
Customer Obsession
Quality products
Be honest to your mission – in our case, bringing Indian handicraft in décor, utility and toy products to the forefront of modern relevance. We are here to set up a business, with a purpose at the core of it.
Can you mention any examples of online retail companies that inspire you and why?
Swiggy: - for the convivence it brings to the customers as well as the great execution that created trust
Myntra: - Quality products with great in-home shopping convenience. Customer-friendly policies of return and refund
Amazon: - Because of their customer obsession, quality products, and great delivery and customer repeats the experience
Can you please brief us about your team and its strength?
About the founder and CEO
NUKKAD.org is founded by Ruchi Gour. She is a May 2009 batch Chartered Accountant and has worked in her employment career with topmost National and Multinational Companies Viz. ITC Ltd, Asian Paints, Cloudtail India Pvt Ltd as well as been part of an evolving organisation - Myntra designs Pt. Ltd, Swiggy and Dream 11
She started NUKKAD.org to set up an entity that is also a purpose-driven business. Not only the unique, varied and contemporary Indian handicrafts and toys deserve the appreciation and acceptance within our country and the world at large it has the potential to be a successful commercial and social success story.
India is a land of varied culture, art forms and amazing stories behind it. These days consumers prefer decorating their home and utility items that have a character and substance yet Indian handicraftslack due to the absence of platforms to reach its audience who truly cherish the pieces and take pride in the Indian story of its origin. This entity is set up to provide convenience in buying such handicrafts online but also support the interest of our local artisans and overall pride in Indian handicrafts and toys.
How do you make sales and promote a high-value average transaction?
Our digital marketing efforts and word of mouth for our fabulous collections get customers to our site which leads to sales. Also, since the collection in various categories compliments a variety of home needs and also toys for gifting, we have seen our AOV being higher of Rs 2500/-
What is your strategy to reach new industries and new customers?
Digital marketing, Google ads, YouTube commercials and more importantly word of mouth reference by our existing customers
What is your proudest professional accomplishment?
Receivedhuge appreciation for our collection and some international interest too. Work is in progress in that arena too currently.
What are your upcoming projects?
Inspired by the Gondwana tribal community of Madhya Pradesh of India. We are about to launch a unique handicraft piece called the Anti clock. This is a wall clock
which is used and originates from our Gondwana community’s age-old belief of why the movement of wall clock should be Anti clockwise to be correct (when compared to our contemporary wall clocks movement considered as clockwise) In modern times, this timepiece will be a great conversation piece in our home decor, a unique gifting item for friends and families and a bit of a brain teaser (yes, it takes time to get used to seeing time in this unique clock – where the not only the hand move anti-clockwise but also the digits are reverse)
We have specially handcrafted this clock in a modern avatar with sagwan wooden frame while we bring back the spotlight to the story backing the beliefs of this tribal Gondwana community. Which feels that the correct and more auspicious movement of the clock should be anti-clock actually?
We leave this announcement right here and hope the readers will google more about this community to learn about them as we launch this India inspired modern handcrafted timepiece with a twist and a story. Also, a reminder of how varied and unique stories are around in our land transformed into ways of living and believing…
“We continue to add a lot of selection of quality products across the regions and categories.”
Year of Founding: 2020
Funding Information: Self-funded
Founding Members: Founder and CEO – Ruchi Gour
Office Locations: Dewas in Madhya Pradesh
Company Strength: 3 members and few consulting firms for marketing and Accounts
Website: www.nukkad.org
Handicrafts are a reflection of the cultural Inventory of the ethnic people who make them. “Art is not a handicraft. It is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced”- Leo Tolstoy
