How IBA, a fashion start-up is using technology to promote CBT trade?

Indian Beautiful Art (IBA) was found to bridge the gap of global trade in the Indian industry for e-commerce platforms and incepted in 2009 with a concept of e-commerce exports of Indian products internationally. The company has developed a Just In Time Garments Manufacturing (JIT) process, which helps to eliminate the need for warehousing for apparel and garments can be manufactured from scratch within 48 hours of receiving the order. In an exclusive conversation with Nitin Kapoor Co-founder of Indian Beautiful Art tell us more about the company. 

Kindly tell us about your entrepreneurial journey so far. What was the inspiration behind introducing IBA?

I have always had the entrepreneurial mindset, I didn't enjoy my paycheck and knew in the very beginning it would not go for long as I was not doing what I love. The Journey continued until We saw a real problem and opportunity at the same time in the international e-commerce market, which leads to IBA been born. It was hard, but I never regret the same.

What is your assessment of cross border trade in India? According to you, what are bottlenecks in this segment?

The CBT trade from India is growing at a rapid pace. However, we are still far behind China, and still there is massive opportunity in e-commerce exports from India, yet the challenges from India which can party spoiler would be logistics, high payment conversion fee, expensive express delivery, GST Input Credit from Government for small parcels considered as exports & high manufacturing cost as per china.

The conditions have improved over the years, but there is still, which needs to be done in the mindset of the vendors and support from the government to produce high-quality products that match international standards.

Is IBA backed by any VC or PE? If yes, then pls provide the details. Else,  what are the plans to raise funds?

We started in a small 10X10 Square feet room with 10,000 INR investment in the company, and today we have over 200 Cr of GMV done till today consolidated and this all is E-Commerce Exports Business, So that is the amount which we have got into the country from Exports (CBT)

At This stage, we are 5 Million USD run rate, and with JIT in our business Process already implemented today we have Virtual Inventory worth 1000 CR which can be developed within 48 hours after receiving the order, and via this, we are foreseeing 100 CR revenue run rate within 12 – 18 months.

All the profits have plowed back into the business as it is not VC funded company till yet and but we do plan to raise funds shortly via which we can have first movers advantage with JIT.

What are your pricing strategies and best performing product categories? Going forward, what are the plans for category expansion? Also, shed light on your customer base?

We sell products in a sweet spot of 20-30 USD, which means any international buyer is comfortable spending that amounts online, and we have further expanded our process to home furnishing as well i.e Just In Time Home Furnishing Manufacturer, POD (Print On Demand) Fabrics, and Custom wedding decoration & stationery which is in huge demand outside. Since we have the luxury to change designs so we can create a prototype and display the product with our AR technology Created Images, and create a product when the order punches In.

Tell us about your tech disruption in manufacturing space?

As per the introduction of Just in Time (JIT) technology by IBA Crafts, Just in Time technology promises to revolutionize the Garment Industry. The disruptive technology is the first of its kind in the world, the use of which dramatically reduces overhead costs & garments can be made within 48 hours catering to the need, requirement, and measures as the customer needs. With the introduction and inclusion of disruptive technology, i.e., JITGM (Just In Time Garments Manufacturing), which is also a copyrighted process with the Government of India, it is expected, this new technology will reduce the waste of resources especially water. Here, the customer will place the order via AR (Augmented Reality) Images, which will offer customers multiple ranges of fabrics/colors/prints/embroideries, and then garment would be produced within 48 hours after a customer placed the order.

At last, kindly highlight your growth plans?

We plan to start O2O (Online to Offline) model in garments where the customer would be able to check the physical sample of the product on the physical store and then buy the color or print by looking at the model image. By this, there is a great sense of satisfaction for material & size as this has already been tried by the customer and with our vast catalog of colors & prints on the model wearing the same dress would attract more and repeat customers for new designs which we would be able to create.