Furniture e-tailer Pepperfry partners BankBazaar to offer loans at its offline showrooms

Mumbai-based Trendsutra Platform Services Pvt. Ltd, which owns furniture e-tailer Pepperfry, said on Tuesday it has partnered online financial marketplace BankBazaar to offer personal loans for customers visiting its physical showrooms.

As a result of the partnership, Pepperfry showroom customers can avail of a loan from a range of curated offers.

The customer has to provide basic personal details on the website, leading to mobile number verification through one-time password. Once the identity is validated, he/she can pick from the bank offers in real time and proceed with the online application of the loan or request for a BankBazaar executive to assist offline.

“Through the introduction of this easy credit facility, we will help our customers furnish and renovate their homes in a seamless way. Our partnership with BankBazaar, a leading personal finance marketplace, helps provide multiple home upgrade loan options from various leading banks in India,” said Mihir Kulkarni, head, studio innovation, Pepperfry.

Features such as cash on delivery and no-cost EMI (equated monthly instalment) are available. As a result of this partnership with BankBazaar, Pepperfry will enable the loan securing process at each of its showrooms.

The development comes five months after the furniture e-tailer launched its home interior design solution service in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Gurugram, called Pepperfry BeSpoke.

The company aims to expand its BeSpoke studios to 17 outlets in 10 cities and plans to achieve a business of Rs 350 crore gross merchandise value by March 2020.

Founded in January 2012 by Ambareesh Murty and Ashish Shah, Pepperfry started with categories such as home, lifestyle and fashion, and now specialises in furniture and home products on its managed marketplace platform. It has 43 studios in 18 cities currently.

Pepperfry now generates 50% of its sales from its private label brands and décor units.

It last raised Rs 250 crore ($38.4 million) in a fresh round of funding from asset management company State Street Global Advisors in March last year. Pepperfry has raised a total of around Rs 1,200 crore in capital since it began operations.

BankBazaar, owned by Chennai-based A & A Dukaan Financial Services Pvt. Ltd, was established in 2008 by brothers Adhil and Arjun Shetty, along with Rati Rajkumar. The firm has partnered over 85 financial institutions.