Industry overview
What is shaping textile
Textiles run from handloom weavers and spinning mills to garment exporters and retail brands. Buyers demand quality, compliance and speed; workers and artisans need fair, stable livelihoods.
- International buyers expect compliance and traceability
- Handloom and artisan programmes support livelihoods
- Fabric preferences change with fashion and climate
Client background
A textile cluster association, working in Surat, Gujarat. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A textile cluster association
- Sector
- Textile
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- IT consulting, Custom business applications, Qualitative research
Client challenge
Small weaving and processing units managed orders and payments on paper and phone calls. The association wanted to understand barriers to digital adoption and pilot practical tools.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: helping a textile cluster adopt digital tools.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of small units.
- Uncover the motivations and barriers people do not state in a survey.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 4 months.
Target audience
The work focused on 80 small units.
- small units80
Audiences we typically reach in textile
Weavers and artisansMill and factory workersGarment exportersInternational and domestic buyersFabric retailers
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Surat, Gujarat. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A qualitative design, built to uncover motivations, decision processes and the language people actually use.
- 1Brief
- 2Owner interviews
- 3Digital readiness assessment
- 4Pilot tools
- 5Insight
We interviewed unit owners about their processes, technology use and concerns, assessed digital readiness and piloted a simple order and payment tracking tool in Gujarati with a small group of units. The pilot tool was designed with a few owners over several weeks, using WhatsApp-style screens and large buttons so that it felt familiar from the first day.
IT consultingCustom business applicationsQualitative research
Sampling strategy
- small units
- 80
- Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
- Telephone contacts were dialled from verified lists, with quotas tracked live by the field team.
- Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.
Data collection
- Telephone interviews were run from our CATI centre, with calls monitored for quality.
- Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.
Data quality & validation
- Live call monitoring and recording review
- Call-back verification
- Recordings and transcripts for every session
- Re-screening of qualitative recruits
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
- Journey and decision mapping
Key findings
- Owners were willing to adopt tools that clearly saved time and reduced payment disputes.
Starting with one clear problem made digital adoption feel practical.
Recommendations
- The pilot’s success encouraged the association to roll out the tool and offer training across the cluster.
- Share the findings with the teams closest to customers so they can act quickly.
What we recommended, and the client put into practice
Business impact
- Owners using the tool reported fewer payment disputes with traders, and the association used their stories to encourage others to join.
Deliverables & next steps
- Insight report and management presentation
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Interview summaries and key verbatims
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: what do buyers look for in a sourcing partner?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.