Pepperfry to now offer home interior design solutions on its platform

Online furniture marketplace Pepperfry has launched its home interior design solution service in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Gurugram, a company statement said. Called Pepperfry Bespoke, customers can walk into the large format stores, Pepperfry Bespoke Studios, and can avail of free interior design solutions by experts, budget planning, false ceiling, plumbing, civil work, modular solutions, painting and electricals.

This will place the furniture company in direct competition with home decor firm Livspace, which is backed by TPG Growth and Goldman Sachs and interior designs marketplace HomeLane.

Pepperfry raised $38 million from State Street Global Advisors in March this year. In an interview with TechCircle, chief executive Ambareesh Murty said that the company will be investing in augmented and virtual reality.

The Bespoke Studios for the brand will also have 3D visualisation for customers and touch and feel as part of its material library.

“New home and home renovation is an $8-billion opportunity. As the leader in the home and furniture segment with a strong online and offline presence, it was only natural to extend the Pepperfry offering to include end-to-end home interior design and build services for our customers,” said Ashish Shah, chief operating officer of Pepperfry, in the statement.

Pepperfry will expand its Bespoke Studios to 17 outlets in 10 cities and plans to achieve business of Rs 350 crore gross merchandise value by March 2020, the statement said. The platform currently clocks in half of its sales from private label furniture and decor units.

Pepperfry Bespoke has partnered with brands like Hettich, Bosch, Siemens, Kajaria, Gyproc, Marshall’s Wall Coverings and more.

For the financial year2017-18, Pepperfry narrowed is losses and posted a 20% rise in revenue.

The firm’s consolidated revenue increased to Rs 309 crore for the period under review, up from Rs 258 crore in the year prior.

Consolidated net loss shrank to Rs 169 crore from Rs 249 crore. Expended dropped 13% to Rs 453 crore.