Since our launch of PEEK in 2016, we’ve grown and grown – we now host over 682 businesses and over 5130 products! The Craft + Design Institute (CDI) is proud to present the new updated PEEK site, with added functionality, making it even easier for trade buyers and consumers to find beautiful South African craft and design.
Over the years the PEEK platform has caught the attention of a global audience with over 30% of the site traffic from international markets, as well as garnered millions of Rands in value of media coverage in news, décor and lifestyle media. It has firmly become a go-to destination for finding distinctive local products.
“Since we launched PEEK, it has become a game-changing online platform dedicated to showcasing beautiful craft and design products made in South Africa. Our goal was to open up access to new markets for the many small craft and design businesses in South Africa, and this new iteration accelerates this drive,” says Fran Stewart, CDI’s Market Development Programme Manager.
“In our first phase of this relaunch, buyers and consumers will find a fresh new look that makes it easier to connect with businesses, business owners will be able to enhance their profiles and listings, and then in phase two we will activate an e-commerce pilot with the view to being able to offer full e-commerce functionality to e-commerce ready businesses.”
This, adds Stewart, will be accompanied by a significant digital marketing campaign focussed on driving local and global traffic to the site monthly.
With the global growth in e-commerce showing no sign of slowing down, rather increasing exponentially, PEEK is set to become a more powerful enabling platform for businesses to reach new customers.
PEEK is an initiative of CDI and was launched thanks to the support of the South African Department of Small Business Development. The updated site has been made possible thanks to the support of McKinsey & Company.
PEEK provides a platform for SA businesses anywhere in the country to showcase their work to a local and global audience, highlighting the very best of what South Africa has to offer. And, it’s free to use! It enables click-throughs to businesses’ own websites, contacts and ecommerce platforms, and facilitates B2B and B2C contact.
The CDI invites creative businesses to sign up for the PEEK site by registering as a business member on the national database at www.thecdi.org.za – it’s free and once registered, businesses can directly access Peek to upload products using their usernames and passwords.
