Nailing iteee ae
3.small design team and consult
Snes to innovate prodiocts= Cho
pra says Urban tadder's
lirhouse design team is closely
“They give design inputs to
both sellers and manuloc
‘rere says sri
For Shah of Peppertny.
the design team 1s also.
fesponsttie for mer
chandising and produc
fon Ke includes
Srchicects and interior de-
Siizners. who pick designs
‘tnd models that appeal to
the modern coms
‘So who Is this buyer? Any:
fone In the 3545 age group
Sito ts familiar with ‘online
Shopping: appreciates good de-
Sigh and ls usually time starved.
Feblaraiah’s research pegand
is group's annual income at €3
Lakh to ets lakh. "We found that
getting furniture made trom a ca
enter is not cool anymore and the
Spwational element te high
saysChopra.
‘Nearly 70 per cent of the
re are corning fro T
‘ities, but Ther I towns are swiftly
‘bandwagon.
Tite online sellers typically tource
furniture from Chur, Jalpur, and
Jodhpur in Rajasthan, western Utear Pra
Souk Kerala and the Northeast Bieanded Fare
ture is usually sourced from Murbal, Delhi
nd Hangatore.
Teppertry, for instance, routinely delivers’
s00kg wardrobes from Jaipur to Alzaw tn
Mizoram and Balacore in Odisha. Each quar:
ter furniture sourced by the company from
cross India travels to homes in 4uo cities.
Detivory pains and gains
Logistics is predictably a huge challenge in tn
‘Guxcbut the online merchants are reading he
patchy roads and rugged terrains with grow.
Ing confidence. Typically, of their gross mar
in of around 40 pee cent, nearly 20 per cent
ors to logistics and ¥5 percent to marketing.
unique chatlenges “Furniture can't be sent by
fiz and while you can order smaller
items te your office, farniture has to be
delivered at bome. So we must take an ap
olatment beloce delivery anys Chopra
Fabfurnish offers an app that lets the
rechedule sv appointment and ior
he realtime movement of the truck
deiiwering the turn
Perrerin/s shalt welies ont a bubend:
spoke model to resolve logistical issues and
sive money He har browne
ae
costs only 840,000 for #0 pieces In a truck. oF
£500 per piece." he says. The company-owned
ike are manned by a driver, two tondings
Unloading stall anda supervisor. “Thecosts go
Sown, a8 all Lneed to spend on are Kiel and
Proples be says
Tabfurnish (3 building teams for assem
bing devered furniture at buyers home.
wells aftersales service “Around § perce
Sf eustomers want extra polish or repairs We
‘ire cresting reame to handle
these problems” says Chopra
to't300. Apart from owning & —
fleet of 150 (rucks (0 GelNer wee get enough orders Ste at your fingertips
Targe Items across India the we As sellers plug loopholes, con:
company uses third-party trucks
‘ectongrhaci mowernen
vices, they charge for every piece
Dt furmiture” he aye owe have
created sorting hubr in Jodhpur
Murat and bangalore. We get
hough orders to move full truckloads of 22
from these hubs to large towns lke Delhi" he
explains. Company-owned to-feet tracks take
‘over at these points and carry furniture to all
‘ecities in te vicinity: My seae allows met
=
Sumers are gaining confidence
thomline chopping Competitive
prices are an irresistible factor
‘cheaper than the competition as
aie taller works ivccly with
Currently clocks around 20,000 transactions
month. Fablurnish on average Feceiwes 1.000
Stders a day with « basket size of £12000
Sach. Urban Ladder registers around 200
Transactions a day; with an average chet size
The ‘online success story has inexorably
spelt he edging out of offline stores feluance
Rewail began exiting the furniture business
thst year shutting: Gown its Rellance Living
Storev in Bangalore, Dells and Hyderabad Fa
ture group merged its furniture and Lifestyle
“Realestate costs in India are prohibitive
making it dificult for them to rows Many of
theoffline players are talking on
Scparate portiolio for them," says Chopra.
The online furniture players are witnessing
4 scorching 200-400 per cent growth fo reve
‘hues every fiscal, Dut rather than focus os
Cumming profitable, they are opting tor rte
expansion and growth instead
Biwe are increasing fiued costs, investing t
Sven will not happen soon,” says Chopra
scratched the surface of this marke, We wan
fo scale up. As business grows and scale im
proves, he economics yet becter™ He te will
og to wait for profits. even until 2046. Wit
buyers like Trivedi clicking erthustasticall
nd) beyond that walt
ids Gol peoneios: