This online furniture startup is venturing where bigger rivals have failed to tread

Furniture sales was an unsexy business in India till Urban Ladder and Pepperfry added some oomph to it.

They introduced middle class India to smart designs and convenient shopping, but failed to bridge a gap where one either has to pay top dollar to get quality, or grab a deal and pray to the gods the sofa ordered would turn out to be the same color as shown on the website.

And then there is the question of delivery on time.

Young rival Mebelkart says it has found a way to bridge that gap, and then some.

The solution is to source furniture from near the customer and deliver it as fast as one can, chief executive Rahul Agrawal told Tech In Asia.

“We don’t want to sell all products to everyone all over the country. Our motto is to be able to sell you the best possible product available near you at the best possible price and time.

Instead of shipping furniture from far away hubs, Mebelkart sources furnitures from carpenters near a customer’s city, allowing it to snip off considerable charges on shipping, and save on delivery time, Rahul explains.

“We can offer you the same piece of furniture at 27 percent lesser than Pepperfry or Urban Ladder , at the same profit margins, because we save on shipping distance,” he adds.

To boot, the company sends installation teams with the delivery men, saving customers the hassle of having to book slots themselves.

Uber-ifying furniture delivery

Bootstrapped for more than two years till Malaysia’s Astro wrote them a check of $20 million through a local player, Rahul is now eyeing other growth areas.

Various industry executives and analysts told Tech In Asia they peg the furniture and furnishings market in the country at about US$24 billion. 90 percent of that is in the unorganised sector.

Margins