Industry playbook
Garment, apparel & footwear retail
How garment and footwear stores automate size-wise stock, billing and GST with hisabkitab
Picture a family-run clothing and footwear store in a tier-2 city with men's, women's and kids' sections and a separate footwear wall. It carries thousands of size and colour variants, runs two billing counters, and does most of its year's business in the festival and wedding seasons.
See hisabkitab for Garment, apparel & footwear retail →
The challenges
Why apparel stock and GST get messy
Size × colour explodes the item list
One kurta style in five sizes and four colours is twenty stock items; one sneaker in eight sizes is eight more. Without structured grouping, stock reports are unreadable and the owner cannot tell which sizes sell out first and which always come back at season-end.
GST that depends on the price tag
For readymade garments and footwear, the GST rate depends on the sale value per piece, with a lower rate up to a threshold and a higher one above it after the September 2025 changes. Discounts and season sales can move a piece across that line, and a wrong rate means a wrong GSTR-1.
Exchanges and returns every day
Size exchanges are routine, and returns after festivals spike. Handling them as cash refunds or informal swaps leaves stock and sales figures out of step, and nobody can say how much was actually sold in Diwali week.
Season-end dead stock
Unsold winterwear, last season's colours and broken size runs sit in the back room. Without data on what did not sell, the owner repeats the same buying mistakes next season.
Weekend rush at the counter
Customers queue with several pieces each. Searching for codes and calculating discounts by hand slows billing, and slow billing during a sale means lost customers and pricing mistakes that eat into margin.
A day in the life
A day before vs after hisabkitab
Before
Price tags are handwritten; counter staff type item names and guess the right variant.
GST rate is applied from memory, even when a discount changes the final price.
Exchanges are handled as informal swaps; stock is corrected 'later'.
Next season's purchase is planned from the owner's memory of what sold.
With hisabkitab
Every piece carries a printed barcode tag; staff scan and the right size, colour and price appear.
Items are grouped by price band with the correct HSN and rate, so the slab is checked at setup, not at the counter.
Exchanges and returns go through credit notes, keeping stock and sales accurate.
Stock and profit reports by category, brand, style and size guide next season's buying.
Solutions
How hisabkitab solves it
Size-colour item explosion
4-level grouping
Group items Category → Brand → Style → Size/Colour. Billing is at the exact variant, while reports roll up to style or brand, so you see that size M of one kurta always sells out while XXL never does.
Price-based GST slabs
Custom Field (Item Level) + item HSN/rate setup
Store MRP band as an item field and assign the HSN and rate per item. Review items near the threshold before a sale, and the GST Report shows rate-wise sales for GSTR-1.
Slow counter billing
Print Barcode + Thermal print + Price List
Print barcode tags for each variant, scan at the counter and thermal-print the bill. Keep a regular and a sale price list so discounts are applied consistently.
Exchanges and returns
Sale Return / Credit Note
Record every exchange or return against the original bill. Stock comes back to the right size and colour, and sales reports reflect what was actually kept by customers.
Season-end dead stock
Stock Summary + Item-wise Profit Report (Least Selling Items on Advance)
See closing stock by style and size, and margin by item. On Advance, the Least Selling Items Report highlights what to clear early and what not to re-order.
Customer follow-up
Auto-WhatsApp
Send bills on WhatsApp so customers always have their invoice for exchanges, and build a contact list for your next season announcement.
Inside the software
Built for your books
Custom formula example
4-level grouping
Items: Women → Brand A → Anarkali Kurta Style 2214 → M / Maroon. Footwear: Footwear → Brand B → Running Shoe 'Swift' → UK 8.
Reports you’ll use
Stock Summary · Low Stock Report · Item-wise Profit Report · Least Selling Items Report · GST Report · Invoice-wise Sale Report
Compliance notes
After the September 2025 rationalisation, readymade garments and footwear are taxed at a lower rate up to ₹2,500 per piece and a higher rate above it; confirm current rates and HSN codes with your CA. Because the slab follows the actual sale value per piece, check items near the threshold before season sales. Small stores under the composition scheme follow different invoicing rules, so confirm your registration type before setting up rates.
Recommended plan
The plan that fits
Advance
₹6,999/year, exclusive of 18% GST (or ₹13,999 for 3 years)
Barcode-scanner billing at the counter, Least Selling Items reports and AI-OCR for supplier bills are on Advance, alongside barcode tags, price lists, thermal printing and item-level custom fields. A small store that picks items by name instead of scanning can start on Boost.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions
How do I handle sizes and colours without thousands of messy items?
Each sellable variant is an item, but four-level grouping keeps them organised: Category, Brand, Style, then Size or Colour. Barcode tags mean staff never search by name, and reports roll up to the style or brand level, so the long list never gets in anyone's way.
Does hisabkitab pick the GST rate based on price?
You set the HSN and GST rate on each item, and we suggest storing the price band as an item field so items near the ₹2,500 per-piece line are easy to review. Before a big sale, check those items so the final discounted price and the rate on the bill agree.
Can I print barcode price tags?
Yes, Print Barcode is included from Boost. Generate tags for each size and colour variant after the purchase is entered. On Advance, a scan at the counter picks the exact item and price, the bill prints on a thermal printer, and stock reduces automatically for that size and colour.
How are exchanges recorded?
Record the returned piece through a sale return or credit note against the original invoice and bill the new piece as usual. Stock goes back to the right variant and your sales reports reflect only what customers actually kept, which makes festive-season numbers trustworthy.
Can I see which styles did not sell this season?
Yes. Stock Summary shows closing stock by style and size, and the Item-wise Profit Report shows margin. On Advance, the Least Selling Items Report ranks slow movers directly, which makes the next season's buying list and the clearance sale list much easier to build.
Keep exploring
Related industry playbooks
Scan, bill, exchange: stock stays right
Book a demo and we will set up a few of your styles with size-colour groups, barcode tags and a sale price list so you can see the counter flow end to end.
