Pepperfry backs pvt labels to win kids furniture market

Pepperfry is backing on a clutch of in-house private labels to expand its presence in the kids (infants, pre-teens and teens) furniture segment, which is estimated to be a Rs 7,000 to Rs 10,000 crore market presently and has seen a steady growth of 20% Y-o-Y, a senior company official told DH in an interaction.

Speaking about the market size and growth potential, Hussaine Kesury, Chief Category Officer, Pepperfry said, “The kids’ furniture market in India is by and large, unorganised. We have seen a huge uptick in demand lately from parents who want products for their kids that are safe and durable. We saw a huge opportunity to tap in this segment and are launching more products in the segment via our private labels such as Mintwud and Casacraft. We had launched Mollycoddle in 2016 to cater to the sector.”

The company says that the kids’ furniture segment on its own is valued at Rs 65 crore and is seeing a growth of 100% Y-o-Y. “We are looking at creating products for kids that use high-quality materials, are safe and are available in multiple price points. Kids furniture amounts to around 4% to 5% of our total revenue, “ says Kesury.

The company aims at emerging as a one-stop-shop for kids furniture with more than 5000 listings and 200 brands under its belt.

In an attempt to tap into the nascent market, the company is primarily looking at in-house brands.

“We usually create in-house private labels in categories that our partners are not working on. We created a separate category for kids in June. We have a curated selection of over 1,000 furniture products for kids from 45 brands, on our platform including popular kids brands. There is tremendous potential for growth.”

Apart from MollyCoddle, the in-house brand for infants and toddlers, Mintwud and Casacraft are for pre-teens and teens.

The company aims to grow its kids’ furniture business to reach the Rs 500 crore mark over the next three years from Rs 65 crore presently.

What sells most

In the kids’ furniture category, It is beds and storage facilities that are most popular. Products such as sofas are not as fast selling. “Beds constitute about 40% of the sales, followed by study and storage options. Bunk beds, loft beds, beds with a study are very popular. Even multiple-use cribs, study tables and storage compartments are top-selling items,” says Kesury.

PepperFry is also planning to increase its footprint in the offline retail space. “We have around 60 experience stores across the country at present and plan to go up to 100 in the next two years.”