Pepperfry sets aside 1/3rd of expenses for decor and utility

Online furniture platform, Pepperfry is looking to expand its home decor and utility category and has set aside 1/3rd of the year’s expenses to build the category. The move comes after the e-tailers' leadership demand in the country’s market.

Pepperfry will make a separate investment of Rs 8.5 crore for marketing this year to build the category and grow it to form up to 35% of the revenue share within one year from the 20% it currently forms.

“About one-third of our spends towards growth will focus on the decor and utility category which will include marketing, merchandising amongst others. We are also investing in creating private labels or house brands in this category across ranges such as lamps, carpets, bedsheets, etc,” said Kashyap Vadapalli, CMO of Pepperfry.

Currently, the category forms about 70% of the transaction volume for the platform at a smaller average ticket size of Rs 3,000 as compared to Rs 18,000 for its furniture category.

For Pepperfry, the focus on this category comes on the back of the desire to capture a significant share of a larger market for home decor and utilities pegged at Rs 1,30,000 crore as compared to furniture which is pegged at about Rs 100,000 crore as per industry estimates in India.

The category also leads to better upsell opportunities for the larger ticket sized furniture category and hence, is a sweet spot for the company which is eventually looking to grow decor and utility to capture a 50% revenue share over the next 3 years.

“Customers who make their initial purchases on Pepperfry through the decor and utility category are 50% more likely to buy furniture from the platform over the next 12 months. That helps our repeat purchase metric significantly,” said Vadapalli.

With house brands further expected to add more value and boost margins in this category, Pepperfry is looking to establish decor and utility as the next engine of growth for the firm.