India’s biggest e-commerce company, Flipkart, which has been selling furniture for a few years now through its marketplace, is now eyeing to clock Rs. 750 crores in gross merchandise value, or GMV, by the end of the year in the segment.
“In view of heavy investments in supply chain and back-end, the company now anticipates to note four times growth in its furniture sales this year as compared to last year,” Flipkart Furniture Category Head Nandita Sinha was quoted as saying by Times of India.
The company is equipped with its own delivery, fulfilment and installation network enabled by tech. “Additionally, Flipkart has also launched its private brand Perfect Homes, which has helped it grow in the category,” added Nandita.
The latest development has been disclosed by the retailer soon after US-based Walmart Inc bought 77 per cent shares in it at US $ 16 billion.
The e-retailer, which revamped its furniture vertical last year, is targeting to be Number 1 in this segment beating the Mumbai-based current largest furniture e-tailer Pepperfry, this year. Improved supply chain and increased focus on its private labels will be majorly taken care of by the retailer.
On the other hand, Ambareesh Murty, Founder and CEO of Pepperfry stated that the company aims to note GMV of Rs. 5,000 crores by 2020.
Issues related to furniture business such as longer delivery periods, post-sales installation and other pain points faced by consumers have now been addressed by the Flipkart. Now it expects significant growth in revenue contribution for the company from home category from current around 15 per cent.
