Online furniture and home décor marketplace, Pepperfry will turn profitable in the next 3-4 months having reduced cash burn over the past year by over 50%, co-founder and CEO, Ashish Shah told Fe in an interaction.
Shah said that despite the entry of several other players in home furniture space, Pepperfry continues to be the largest omnichannel player in the in the country with a 30% market share.
Going forward the company will look to build on its assisted buying feature that utilise technological solutions, as well as doubling on trained staff that deal with niche requirements. The company claims to be the largest big-box online retail business in the country which has a completely in-house fleet, that has helped it build on a skilled, capable, and cost-effective supply-chain.
“While growing and expanding into newer verticals, and increasing our private label offerings, we have and will continue to remain true the our core DNA of being a online marketplace for home furniture and decor, a place where a customer can find a plethora or the maximum number of brands and sellers in the space, on a single platform, at best prices,” Shah said.
Founded in 2012 by two former McKinsey & Company consultants, Ambareesh Murty and Ashish Shah, Pepperfry saw an opportunity to create a one-stop shop for local and imported furniture and home décor products in India, which was then a largely fragmented market. However, since 2012, the market has evolved significantly, growing in size as well seeing the emergence of newer players, verticals, and global brands like Swedish furniture retailer, Ikea.
Pepperfry has a network of over 100 warehouses across the country and offers a wide range of delivery and installation services pan-India that are enabled through its completely in-house delivery and logistics fleet. It also has a network of over 190 physical flagship experience studios, which it uses to showcase its products and provide customers with a touch-and-feel experience.
In FY22 Pepperfry’s losses widened by over 80% to Rs 194 crore. Revenues grew 23% to Rs 201.5 crore. The company is still to file its FY23 financials with the Registrar of Companies.
In 2022, the India online furniture market reached a value of $780 million. The market is further expected to reach a value of nearly $5 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of around 36% during 2023-2028, according to market research firm IMARC group.