How Purplle went from 600+ internal tools to a unified system

Purplle is one of India’s largest beauty e-commerce platforms, on a mission to democratize beauty for every Indian consumer—especially in tier 2 and tier 3 cities. The company has rapidly grown into a tech-first organization, leveraging AI, data-driven personalization, and operational automation to deliver a seamless shopping experience.

With 10.5 million monthly active users and 50,000+ daily orders, Purplle operates at a scale that demands efficiency, flexibility, and speed in its tech infrastructure.

Scaling operations amidst 10x growth

Purplle has experienced exponential growth in both customer base and operational complexity. While this is an exciting trajectory, it poses serious technical and operational challenges:

a) Logistics & fulfillment complexity

• Orders surge from 50K to 100K+ during sale events.
• 1,000+ brands, 60,000+ SKUs with frequent pricing updates.
• 300,000+ pricing modifications during peak seasons.
• A distributed warehousing model with dynamic inventory allocation.

b) Internal tool sprawl & engineering bottlenecks

• 600+ internal tools were built over time, leading to fragmented systems.
• Tools were built across React, Angular, and PHP, creating tech debt and maintenance issues.
• Engineering teams were stuck patching old tools instead of focusing on innovation.

We built a lot of features, a lot of panels. Some were used for just a week and then discarded. After five years, we had hundreds of them. The real challenge? Maintaining them. If a small UI component broke due to an API change, the turnaround time to fix it became days instead of hours because the original developers had moved on.— Chintan Shah, Engineering Lead, Purplle

c) Constant business demands for operational efficiency

• Business teams frequently requested modifications, new workflows, and automation.
• Small UI/UX changes often required weeks of engineering effort.
• Ops teams needed fast, intuitive tools to keep up with real-time demands.

To stay ahead, Purplle needed a scalable, agile approach to internal tooling that empowered business teams without overloading developers.

Shift to a low-code strategy

With mounting operational complexity, Purplle’s engineering leadership evaluated a new approach:

• Maintain agility while managing large-scale operations.
• Reduce engineering time spent on internal tools.
• Enable non-technical teams to handle workflows autonomously.

DronaHQ’s low-code platform emerged as the perfect fit:

• Drag-and-drop builder allowed for faster internal app development.
• Pre-built integrations simplified data connectivity with existing systems.
• No dependency on front-end developers, freeing up engineering resources.

How Purplle’s engineering team leveraged DronaHQ

a) Centralizing internal tools on a single low-code platform

• Migrating hundreds of legacy panels to DronaHQ.
• Creating a unified, standardized interface for ops teams.
• Automating pricing updates, logistics tracking, and order fulfilment workflows.

b) Improving developer velocity & reducing backlog

• Previously, 20+ engineers managed internal tools—now just 2 people handle it.
• Small changes that took weeks now take hours.
• Eliminated tech fragmentation, ensuring smooth upgrades.

When you have engineers cycling through different teams, keeping frameworks updated is a nightmare. We had systems built on outdated libraries, some of which no one wanted to touch. Even a simple update meant weeks of effort, and that slowed us down massively. — Chintan Shah, Engineering Lead, Purplle

c) Enabling business teams with self-service apps

• Ops teams can now modify workflows without waiting for engineering support.
• Pricing, discounts, and inventory updates are handled autonomously.
• Internal users experience a faster, more intuitive interface.

Faster iteration, reduced engineering load & enhanced agility

With DronaHQ, Purplle transformed its internal operations:

Key Wins

✅ 80% reduction in engineering effort on internal tools.

✅ Faster response to business needs & operational changes.

✅ More focus on innovation and customer experience.

With DronaHQ, we standardized everything now, when business teams need a change, they don’t have to wait weeks. It’s a simple drag-and-drop fix. — Vivek Parihar, Head of Engineering, Purplle

What’s next for Purplle?

With DronaHQ in place, Purplle’s engineering team is now focusing on:

• Scaling AI-driven personalization for customer experiences.
• Enhancing omnichannel operations across online and offline stores.
• Further automating backend processes to improve logistics efficiency.

Purplle’s journey shows that internal tools can be a growth enabler, not just a maintenance burden. By embracing low-code, Purplle has freed its tech team to focus on what truly matters—innovation, scalability, and customer delight.

Want to scale your internal operations like Purplle? See how DronaHQ can help your business achieve speed, agility, and engineering efficiency.