Combining the artisan techniques with modern concepts: INV Home

What changes have you witnessed in the home décor industry during your journey of six years?

Dynamics of any industry are majorly driven by increase and decrease in customer demand. We can easily relate this statement with the current scenario of home décor industry. Initially, home décor industry was un-organised, and product buying frequency was also very low. But increasing per capita income and adoption of urban lifestyle have resulted in a bullish trend in buying pattern. In turn, the industry is witnessing sudden growth and increasing competition from new players in the business.

With what new innovations are you re-launching the label INV Home?

At INV, we want to give a different experience by combining the artisan techniques with modern concepts. We have a strong manufacturing and design infrastructure, and now with Jeroen as our Creative Director, we are testing our own limits and raising the bar for interior design industry. INV 2018 will be a destination store for most to desire and selected few to own.

Why luxury home décor is more popular despite furniture being the major contributor to revenue?

For answering this question, we need to understand market share-wise product assortment. Industry is majorly divided into 4 major categories i.e. furniture, home décor, soft furnishing and dining. Furniture is the major contributor backed by home décor. But in case of furniture, frequency of buying and postponement plays a vital role, whereas in home décor, the product consumption frequency is quite high. Customers consume these products season-wise, festival-wise, and these are used for gifting as well.

What is the average ticket price?

Average ticket size of our offline store is 20-25k. For our online store, that we have recently launched, our average order value is 8-10k.

What do buyers seek while shopping for luxury home décor?

Customer these days are well travelled and exposed to global trends through online medium. Therefore, their taste and preferences have taken a paradigm shift over last few years. This has given birth to a new set of customers who are creative and want to experiment with their product through custom designing. Custom designing is also very popular because buyers are more space driven nowadays. They may like a product which may not prove to be a good fit in their urban homes, and that is where custom designing comes in.

How do you choose a franchise partner?

The franchisee holder needs to have a decent understanding about our industry along with faith in the product and brand DNA because as mentioned luxury industry is all about experience selling. Therefore, if our partner hasn’t inherited or learnt about the business, they would not be able to do justice to our brand.

What is your online to offline sales ratio?

The ratio for online to offline sales is 1:3. Offline sales are three times higher than online because we have just commenced business online. Also, people usually like to feel and experience home décor                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    items before buying.

Which cities do you have your offline stores in, and which cities are next on your target?

We have our stores in Delhi, Mumbai & Hyderabad currently. In the next phase, we plan to expand our EBOs to all major metros, whereas in tier 2 & tier 3 cities, we will expand our presence through franchise model.

What sets you apart from your competitors?

We have been constantly pushing boundaries in the luxury home décor & interior vertical. This time we plan to give the brand an international touch by bringing respected Dutch interior designer, Jeroen Wolterink, on board as our creative director. Jeroen brings expertise, wide knowledge of international techniques and materials and unique designs from Europe straight to India. At INV Home, he plans to curate customized innovative art pieces with natural products procured from Mother Earth. His usage of unique materials like seashells, mother-of-pearl, stingray, silver leaf, ebony and eggshells makes his concepts a master piece.

Why do you think franchising is a viable model for expansion, and how do you intend to scale up?

Planning our merchandise as per regional tastes and preferences from our head office has been the biggest challenge for us. Therefore, we want to use franchise model for both business expansion and for bringing in business insight from different regions. We have clear intent to expand company owned stores in all metro cities and franchisees in tier 2 & tier 3 potential cities.

What are your sales growth projections for the next financial year?

We have huge plans for this year as we are in process of re-launching INV Home as an uber luxury brand. We are also in the process of re-vamping company’s website and soon the same will be launched with Global shipping facility therefore you will witness totally new INV with unique products and global presence. With huge marketing spent and easy in accessibility we assume to double our sales this financial year.