The Challenge

The Central Cottage Industries Corporation of India Ltd. (CCIC), a Government of India enterprise under the Ministry of Textiles, operates the iconic Cottage Emporium brand — one of India’s most recognized names in authentic Indian handicrafts, handlooms, and artisanal products. With showrooms across major Indian cities, Cottage Emporium had been the trusted destination for discerning buyers of Indian craftsmanship for decades.

However, in the rapidly evolving retail landscape, CCIC faced significant challenges:

• Limited Online Presence: While Cottage Emporium had an existing website (cottageemporium.in), it lacked a robust eCommerce platform capable of showcasing and selling the vast and diverse range of handicraft products online.
• Digital Transformation Imperative: As consumer behavior shifted toward online shopping, CCIC needed a full-featured eCommerce platform that could compete with private sector marketplaces while maintaining the premium brand positioning of Cottage Emporium.
• Complex Product Catalogue: Cottage Emporium’s product range spans thousands of SKUs across diverse categories — textiles, pottery, woodwork, metalwork, jewelry, paintings, carpets, and more — each with unique attributes, pricing structures, and artisan provenance details that needed rich presentation.
• Government Compliance Requirements: As a government enterprise, the platform needed to comply with government procurement norms, financial reporting requirements, and transparency standards.
• Pan-India Operations: The platform needed to support operations across multiple showrooms and warehouses with centralized inventory management and nationwide delivery logistics.
• Artisan Story Integration: Beyond standard eCommerce, the platform needed to tell the stories of Indian artisans and craft traditions, differentiating Cottage Emporium from generic marketplaces.
• SEO and Digital Marketing: The platform needed aggressive search engine optimization to drive organic traffic and compete with established eCommerce players in the Indian handicrafts space.

Velocity’s Solution

Scope of Work

Velocity Software Solutions was selected through a competitive government tender process to design, develop, deploy, and maintain a comprehensive eCommerce platform for Cottage Emporium, followed by ongoing SEO services and digital marketing support to drive traffic and sales.

Key Features & Deliverables

eCommerce Platform (Magento-based):

• Product Catalogue Management:
• Multi-category product hierarchy (textiles, pottery, woodwork, metalwork, jewelry, paintings, carpets, home decor, etc.)
• Rich product pages with multiple images, detailed descriptions, material specifications, artisan information, and craft tradition stories
• Configurable products with size, color, and material variations
• Product filtering and faceted search by category, price range, material, region of origin, and craft type

• Featured products, new arrivals, and seasonal collections management

• Shopping and Checkout:

• Shopping cart with real-time inventory checks
• Multiple payment gateway integration (credit/debit cards, net banking, UPI, wallets)
• Guest checkout and registered user checkout options
• Order confirmation with automated email notifications

• Coupon and promotional discount management

• Order Management:

• End-to-end order lifecycle management (placed, confirmed, packed, shipped, delivered)
• Order tracking with shipping provider integration
• Return and refund management

• Invoice generation and download

• Customer Management:

• Customer registration and login (email, social media)
• Customer dashboard with order history, wishlist, and address management
• Customer reviews and ratings

• Email marketing integration for customer engagement

• Inventory Management:

• Real-time inventory tracking across showrooms and warehouses
• Low stock alerts and automated notifications

• Multi-warehouse support with location-based stock management

• Content Management:

• CMS pages for About Us, Craft Stories, Artisan Profiles, Showroom Locator, Contact Us
• Blog/articles section for content marketing
• Banner and promotional content management

• FAQ and customer support pages

• Admin Panel:

• Comprehensive backend for catalogue, order, customer, and inventory management
• Sales analytics and reporting dashboards
• User roles and permissions management
• Tax and shipping configuration

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Services:
– Comprehensive SEO audit of the existing website and new eCommerce platform
– Competitor analysis against major Indian handicraft eCommerce players
– Keyword research and mapping for handicrafts, handlooms, and artisanal products
– On-page SEO optimization (meta tags, headers, URLs, content, images, internal linking)
– Technical SEO (sitemap, robots.txt, schema markup, page speed optimization, mobile usability)
– Off-page SEO (directory submissions, social bookmarking, article/press release submissions, blog creation)
– Social media optimization (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter)
– Google Local Business integration for showroom locations
– Monthly SEO performance reporting with analytics review

Technology Stack

• eCommerce Platform: Magento (Open Source Community Edition)
• Backend: PHP, MySQL
• Frontend: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, jQuery, responsive design
• Payment Gateways: Integrated with multiple Indian payment providers
• Server: Linux (Apache/Nginx), cloud-hosted
• SEO Tools: Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Google Ads, Facebook Ads
• Security: SSL/TLS, PCI DSS compliance considerations, secure payment processing
• Email Marketing: Integrated email service for transactional and promotional communications

Implementation Approach

1. Tender Response and Selection: Velocity prepared a comprehensive technical and financial proposal in response to CCIC’s government tender, including detailed Magento feature listing, team profiles, and project plan.
2. Requirements Analysis: Detailed sessions with CCIC management to understand product categories, pricing structures, inventory workflows, showroom operations, and brand guidelines.
3. Platform Architecture Design: Magento-based architecture designed with multi-store support, category hierarchy, and customization framework for Cottage Emporium’s unique requirements.
4. UI/UX Design: Premium visual design reflecting Cottage Emporium’s heritage brand identity, with emphasis on product photography presentation, artisan stories, and intuitive shopping experience.
5. Development and Customization: Core Magento platform configured and customized with all required features — product catalogue, shopping cart, checkout, payment integration, order management, and admin panel.
6. Content Population: Product data, images, descriptions, and content pages populated in coordination with CCIC’s product and marketing teams.
7. Payment Gateway Integration: Multiple payment gateways integrated and tested for seamless, secure online transactions.
8. Testing and QA: Comprehensive testing including functional testing, payment flow testing, cross-browser testing, mobile responsiveness testing, performance testing, and security testing.
9. Deployment and Launch: Platform deployed on production servers with SSL certification, security hardening, and performance optimization.
10. SEO Strategy Execution: Comprehensive SEO plan executed covering on-page optimization, technical SEO, content strategy, off-page promotion, and social media optimization.
11. Training: CCIC staff trained on product management, order processing, content updates, and analytics review.
12. Ongoing Maintenance and SEO: Continuous platform maintenance, security updates, feature enhancements, and monthly SEO optimization.

Key Outcomes & Impact

• Digital Commerce Launch: Cottage Emporium successfully launched its eCommerce platform, enabling customers across India and globally to browse and purchase authentic Indian handicrafts online for the first time at scale.
• Expanded Market Reach: The online platform extended Cottage Emporium’s reach far beyond its physical showroom locations, opening new markets in cities without showrooms and international buyers.
• Heritage Brand Preservation Online: The platform successfully translated Cottage Emporium’s premium, heritage brand experience into the digital realm, with rich artisan stories and craft tradition content differentiating it from generic marketplaces.
• Improved Search Visibility: SEO efforts significantly improved organic search rankings for key handicraft and handloom-related search terms, driving targeted traffic to the platform.
• Operational Efficiency: Centralized inventory and order management streamlined operations across multiple showrooms and warehouses.
• Government Transparency: The platform met government compliance and transparency standards while providing a modern, competitive shopping experience.
• Social Media Engagement: Social media optimization and content marketing increased brand engagement and drove additional traffic to the eCommerce platform.
• Revenue Diversification: Online sales provided a new revenue stream, reducing dependence on physical footfall and enabling business continuity during market disruptions.

Why Velocity?

• Magento eCommerce Expertise: Velocity had extensive Magento development experience, having built and maintained eCommerce platforms for clients like Darveys.com (luxury goods), UK Soccer Shop (global merchandise), and other retail businesses — providing deep expertise in catalogue management, payment integration, and performance optimization.
• Government Sector Experience: Proven track record working with government agencies (Ministry of HRD, Government of UP, Government of Rajasthan, KESCO) demonstrated Velocity’s understanding of government procurement, compliance, and reporting requirements.
• Full Digital Services: Beyond eCommerce development, Velocity’s integrated SEO, social media, and digital marketing capabilities provided a comprehensive solution under a single vendor.
• ISO Certifications: ISO 9001:2015 (Quality) and ISO 27001:2013 (Information Security) certifications assured CCIC of systematic, secure delivery processes.
• Scalable Partnership: With 100+ professionals and a proven track record of long-term client relationships (10+ years with several clients), Velocity offered a sustainable, scalable partnership model.
• NASSCOM Membership: As a NASSCOM member, Velocity met the industry standards expected for technology partnerships with government enterprises.

Velocity Software Solutions — Bringing India’s timeless craftsmanship to the world, one click at a time.