Startup TextileStock Brings a Brick & Mortar Textile Industry Online

Tuesday November 20, 2012 , 5 min Read

Textile has traditionally been one of the major contributors to the FDI inflow in India. However in past few years China has dented textiles exports from India big time. In low value goods China has beaten India hands down as they are able to bring the product to the market at a cost which is same as just the raw material cost in India. The quality of those Chinese products is questionable but in today’s world of consumerism, price is the king. Indian textile sector is facing lot of issues these days. Apart from the challenges posted by Chinese goods, there are many other issues like labor, government policies, and incentives etc which need to be tackled in order to ensure that this industry flourishes again. An innovative solution is to take this sector online.

Samarth Sangal realized this very quickly and implemented his idea with TextileStock. TextileStock is an online inventory of ready to sell stocks of textile goods in India. This information database makes all the details required for decision making available at a click. Samarth has multiple years of experience in the Textile sector, at a Delhi-based exports house Indu Arts, and manages the operations of the firm in the capacity of the CEO. Samarth is an MBA in International Business from Thunderbird School Of Global Business, Arizona.

Samarth goes on to talk about TextileStock, “We are truly dedicated to market textile stock online & offline 24X7 and can help Indian manufacturers sell their stock. We consolidate and market the textile stock available with big and small suppliers in India. We can help them get rid of their stock at a competitive price by providing visibility and exposure to the textile stock online, for free. We are the first movers in this space. This will help them lower their inventory cost and unlock the cash struck in their stock.”

TextileStock maintains an updated database of stocks of textile goods in India. All the details are free and easily accessible over the web. Constantly on the lookout for new stocks, TextileStock provides its clients with the latest information about quality control, checking, packing and other requirements of the clients. Also, TextileStock ships the goods directly to the clients according to their packing/quality requirements.

“We are the only company in India who deals in export of stock in every product under the textile umbrella. We deal in home furnishing/linen items, kitchen linen, floor coverings including coir mats, jute rugs, sisal rugs & rubber mats, apparels, fashion accessories etc,” adds Samarth.

TextileStock operates under the guidance of the management team of Indu Arts, an export firm started and managed by professionals having more than 50+ years of combined experience in textile industry. TextileStock has gained a lot from Indu Art’s management team by taking a leaf out of their extensive experience in this industry. Apart from this they have local Area Managers in most of the main textile hubs in India. These Area Managers are responsible for sourcing as well as quality control of the products.

Samarth goes on to talk about the current state of the sector in India, “There has been a severe labor shortage in this labor intensive industry. Textiles industry is one of the top providers of jobs in India. However because of the recent government policies there has been a wide spread erosion of labor from this industry which is not good news for textiles. Moreover raw material export by government has resulted in increase in the base price for cotton which is the basic material used in this industry which in turn has resulted in increase in price of finished goods from India and hence we have lost our competitive advantage. With all these issues if a supplier is struck with huge stock, it’s bad news for him.”

This is where, Samarth feels, TextileStock comes into picture. It helps the supplier market his stock and eventually sells his stock at a competitive price.

TextileStock has observed great response from the industry. This fact materializes into numbers: It has more than 500 suppliers so far in a short span on 2+ years and approx 90+ buyers who are always interested in buying. “We have been able to help more than 100+ suppliers in our journey so far and have moved goods worth more than $2 million. That’s $2 million of cash trapped in stocklots with various vendors which we have been able to unlock and sell it to buyers who value this stocklot,” adds Samarth.

Getting a brick-and-mortar company online needs enormous effort of a different kind. The primary task for Samarth was to get the vendors community online. In this industry people are not that tech savvy and are limited to sending mails only as far as internet is concerned, hence, bringing them to the website and getting them to manage their own account is a major challenge. “Our local presence in most of the textile hubs helped tackle this issue. Our Area Managers helped the vendors to create and manage their own accounts so that they can post their stock info on regular basis,” adds Samarth. Talent crunch, now a universal problem, has lacerated TextileStock as well. The team at TextileStock is finding it difficult to hire the right talent, individuals with an inclination towards working in a startup coupled with the deep passion for the industry.

“We have been growing at a tremendous pace so far. Our YOY growth has been over 100%. We have been able to help many big & small vendors encash their stock goods which they were not able to do for years. Working hard to bring to life the idea/concept you have in mind is keeps on motivating and pushing me,” says Samarth on a concluding note.

SMBs in the textile sector should check out TextileStock! Other startups facing hiring troubles should go ahead and post their requirements on YourStory Job Board!

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