Flipkart forays into offline space with furniture store
Highlights
- Through its offline furniture store, measuring around 1,800sqft, Flipkart is showcasing furniture from about nine brands
- Apart from this, the Bengaluru-headquartered company will also open offline grocery stores to sell food items, as reported by TOI earlier
(File photo)NEW DELHI: Flipkart has launched its first furniture experience centre in Bengaluru, marking the Walmart-backed e-tailer's foray into the brick-and-mortar space. The company will launch two more outlets in the same city and will subsequently expand into others.
Through its offline furniture store, measuring around 1,800sqft, Flipkart is showcasing furniture from about nine brands. Apart from this, the Bengaluru-headquartered company will also open offline grocery stores to sell food items, as reported by TOI earlier.
"The furniture category has traditionally had a strong presence offline, because customers like to see and touch the products they are buying. We understand the requirements of customers and hence 'FurniSure'," said Flipkart VP (furniture, electronics & private label) Adarsh Menon.
Flipkart's move comes at a time when Swedish furniture giant Ikea is aggressively planning to expand both its online and offline presence across the country. Pureplay online players in the furniture space, including Livspace, Pepperfry and Urban Ladder have also launched offline stores. While Pepperfry has opened around 40 stores, Urban Ladder has about six.
An upsurge in customer demand from metros as well as smaller towns have made furniture one of the fastest growing categories online.
Majorly driven by the digitisation wave, growing income in the hands of millennials and improving real estate scenario, the market size for online furniture in India expanded to $17 billion in 2018, Flipkart said in a statement.
Through its offline furniture store, measuring around 1,800sqft, Flipkart is showcasing furniture from about nine brands. Apart from this, the Bengaluru-headquartered company will also open offline grocery stores to sell food items, as reported by TOI earlier.
Going physical: Flipkart plans grocery stores
While foreign investors are not allowed into the retail space, Flipkart is looking to tap the “food retail” business where 100% FDI is allowed and lets the investor open physical stores. The move comes after the company opened its fifth online grocery store, Supermart in Mumbai.
"The furniture category has traditionally had a strong presence offline, because customers like to see and touch the products they are buying. We understand the requirements of customers and hence 'FurniSure'," said Flipkart VP (furniture, electronics & private label) Adarsh Menon.
Flipkart's move comes at a time when Swedish furniture giant Ikea is aggressively planning to expand both its online and offline presence across the country. Pureplay online players in the furniture space, including Livspace, Pepperfry and Urban Ladder have also launched offline stores. While Pepperfry has opened around 40 stores, Urban Ladder has about six.
An upsurge in customer demand from metros as well as smaller towns have made furniture one of the fastest growing categories online.
Walmart got a $10 billion surprise after buying Flipkart
When Walmart Inc paid $16 billion for control of India’s e-commerce pioneer Flipkart Online Services Pvt last year, the American retail giant got a little-noticed digital payments subsidiary as part of the deal. Now the business is emerging as one of the country’s top startups, a surprise benefit for Walmart from its largest-ever acquisition.
Majorly driven by the digitisation wave, growing income in the hands of millennials and improving real estate scenario, the market size for online furniture in India expanded to $17 billion in 2018, Flipkart said in a statement.
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