How Ahmedabad-based VastraApp manages supply chain for textile industry with its SaaS solution

Surat-based textile entrepreneur Arvind has been in the textile and apparel industry for over two decades, passionately crafting exquisite sarees. 

However, in the bustling state of Gujarat, where the rich traditions of the textile industry have been thriving for years, he faced a persistent and not uncommon challenge—managing the ever-elusive stock. 

While Arvind tirelessly juggled between various software tools, attempting to maintain accounts and financial records, a single solution for effective stock management remained out of his reach. 

This is where Vikash Rajpurohit’s VastraApp rescued the textile manufacturer. Launched in 2018, the SaaS-based, mobile-friendly app automates the backend sourcing processes and replaces manual record books. 

“I am the only techie among my family and friends deeply involved in textile businesses. For a long time, I had been hearing their conversations revolving around the hardships they faced in managing backend processes manually, and that was my inspiration to start VastraApp,” Rajpurohit tells SMBStory. 

Headquartered in Ahmedabad, Vastra App allows apparel manufacturers to maintain design catalogues, sales orders, purchase records, production job slips, packaging, and dispatch. Further, the mobile-first app enables easy communication via text, audio, and photo notes. 

“Besides features that streamline the supply chain, VastraApp also provides intelligent reminders and analytics to anticipate orders of certain products based on past activity,” the founder explains.

Bootstrapped with Rs 5 crore, the company has over 3,000 clients presently in Gujarat, and it closed FY23 with Rs 2 crore in revenue. It is gradually entering the markets of Maharashtra, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, etc.

Building solutions for the textile industry

According to Invest India, India is the fifth-largest textile producer globally, with the domestic textiles and apparel industry encompassing fibre, yarn, fabric, and apparel in its value chain. 

However, the industry's significance is underscored by its contribution of around 2% to the nation's GDP and 7% to the industry's total value-based output.

Rajpurohit observed that the sector is not only extensive but also widely dispersed. In fact, a considerable portion of manufacturers grapple with challenges related to optimising their supply chains.

Commenting on the integration of technology in the textile domain, Rajpurohit points out that many manufacturers employ software for tasks like accounting and inventory management, which are primarily desktop-based. Meanwhile, VastraApp stands out due to its unique proposition of exclusive focus on textile business operations.

From registration to team integration, the app streamlines all textile operations. Post-registration, transactions once confined to manual books shift to the app, optimising order and job assignment updates. 

Further, insights via reports accessible within the VastraApp offer owners real-time business visibility, while it ensures efficient customer and karigar onboarding fostering smooth communication. The subscription-based app also handles three-level inventory, design catalogue management, and karigar accounts. 

Challenges and the way forward

Since textile is a large and unorganised industry, it brings a lot of challenges for players who are entering the market—one of the major is trust.

“Manufacturers play largely on designs, and they wouldn’t like to share their designs with anyone, be it on an app, which manages their inventory until they don't trust you. So, we are onboarding market influencers first and doing relationship-building with associations so people can trust us,” Rajpurohit explains. 

He adds, “Also, Ahmedabad and Surat are major (textile) hubs, and we are serving this market for five years now, so we are giving references of the big players we already have in our kitty to overcome this challenge.” 

Another challenge Rajpurohit highlights is the shift in mindset. While the pandemic accelerated tech adoption among SMBs, manufacturers were resistant to change. 

These businesses, involved in manual practice for years, felt bringing in an app-based solution will increase their work and resisted it. With time, however, they realised it will help them a lot in running their daily operations. 

Further, manufacturers have become sceptical of subscription-based models due to high cost, but gradually it is changing as they become more aware of SaaS solutions. 

Through an internal survey, VastraApp found that after using the app, manufacturers’ order processing increased by 90% when they managed their finished goods inventory. 

Their production capacity increased by 40% by managing karigar stock, and these businesses started saving Rs 2 lakh to Rs 20 lakh, depending on the scale of the business, as they could reduce deadstock.

VastraApp’s subscription starts from Rs 6,000 and goes up to Rs 50,000, depending on the features a manufacturer wants to integrate into the app. Further, the company is growing 2X year-on-year and is onboarding over 150 businesses every month, Rajpurohit says.

“The future is bright for a SaaS product in the textile industry,” says Rajpurohit, adding that VastraApp is also building a multilingual technology to go deeper into India. 

“This would open gates for more manufacturers to use our app. We are also bringing an updated business connect feature where manufacturers can deal with different clients within the app,” he says.