Show your love for local craft and design

The Craft and Design Institute (CDI) is calling on South Africans to continue to support the thousands of small businesses in the local craft and design sector during the COVID-19 lockdown. Consumers and buyers are encouraged to visit the CDI’s national showcase of local products at www.peek.org.za to find beautiful local products and support the small businesses.

Since its launch in 2017, CDI’s online digital platform www.peek.org.za has grown significantly as hundreds of  craft and design businesses across the country have uploaded their products. Peek is dedicated to showcasing beautiful craft and design products made in South Africa and has been made possible thanks to funding by the national Department of Small Business Development. Over a quarter of visitors to Peek are from overseas, with visitors from the US, France, UK, Canada and Germany among other countries frequenting the site to find products.

It is a free platform for creative businesses anywhere in the country to showcase directly to local and international consumers and buyers. Currently there are 480 businesses to date registered on the platform showcasing over 3 000 products.

“Our platform www.peek.org.za is envisioned as a game-changing online platform dedicated to showcasing beautiful craft and design products made in South Africa. Since the launch we have seen Peek catch the attention of news, décor and lifestyle media, and we have taken the message around the country and engaged with buyers at major trade and consumer events such as Decorex and SARCDA,” says Erica Elk, Group CEO of the CDI.

Elk says that, with the support of the CDI’s funders, there will be a significant ramp up in activities to raise awareness locally in South Africa and with thousands of global buyers to ensure local businesses continue to find leads that will generate sales when physical market opportunities are constrained.

“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by COVID-19, particularly all small business owners, their staff and families who are grappling to come to terms with this unprecedented crisis. We have already received a significant amount of feedback from the small businesses we work with regarding the severe impact they are seeing unfold. For small business owners, sales is the lifeblood – and we call on South Africans to visit www.peek.org.za to support these talented creatives. We hope that South Africans will show their love of local and take time to  browse and connect with local makers online – contact details for each business are on the site and you can contact businesses directly to arrange a purchase.”

JOIN NOW

Elk encourages all small craft and design businesses to join the platform to showcase their products if they have not done so yet. It is very simple to upload photographs onto the website and this can be done online from anywhere.

The CDI is a non-profit company with over 19 years of success in developing creative people, small businesses and the craft and design sector at large in South Africa. The CDI is a catalytic agent of change in the sector, and passionate about developing appropriately skilled, resourced and digitally proficient practitioners who can successfully leverage opportunities for growth and development.

The CDI currently supports over 5 600 businesses and individuals in the South African craft and design sector. The small businesses supported by the CDI range from start-ups to exporting enterprises and are based all over South Africa – from rural towns to urban centres. CDI’s services help these businesses develop the right product/service for the right market using appropriate business and production systems; and facilitates national and international market opportunities to help them grow.

Visit www.peek.org.za today and show your support!