Kochi gets Online Furniture Bandwagon

KOCHI:
Urban Ladder, India’s leading online décor and furniture company, unveiled some interesting patterns from a market study on ‘online furniture purchase trends’ in Kochi.
The trends identified are an analysis of online furniture purchases from over 800 users, in Kochi over the last one year (July 2015 – June 2016). Additionally, the trends highlight findings from customer interactions in the city.
Urban Ladder launched operations in Kochi in April 2015 seeing the huge market potential and customer’s inclination towards solid wood furniture. Kochi ranks among the top 10 cities for Urban Ladder. Kochi customers, look for design, quality and a trustworthy brand while buying furniture.
Kochi is seeing a rapid pace of development with an expanding middle class population and a rise in the number of urban households. The city also offers huge scope of offering turnkey home furnishing solutions for new home buyers.
Some of the identified trends over the last one year include:
Shift in target customer age group: Over the year, the company has seen a shift in the age group of people buying furniture online. The average age group of people buying furniture online has shifted from 35 – 44 years from the time of launch to 25 – 34 years in the last 3 months. More young Kochiites are buying new homes and showing keen interest in furnishing it.
Younger buyers prefer EMI options: With the change in age group, the preferred mode of payment has also shifted to EMIs and cash on delivery. Young couples prefer paying equal monthly instalments and leverage easy payment options instead of making one time payments for furniture. Over the year there has been a 25% increase in purchases made with EMI’s.
Their first purchase is for the living room: The most popular category of purchase is furniture for the living room such as sofas, lounge and accent chairs etc. 50% of customers buy furniture of the living room, followed by the bedroom, dining and study room. Urban Ladder provides sofa trials in Cochin, empowering customers to make informed purchase decisions for their living room.
Customers in Kochi prefer solid wood furniture, both from an aesthetic and durability perspective, particularly for high ticket categories like beds, dining tables etc. MDF is the second choice for smaller categories such as shoe racks, chest of drawers etc.
Customers in the region are cognizant of post sales benefits such as free delivery, assembly and
installation, and post sales assistance and value these benefits. These additional services are disrupting the furniture market in the region.
Commenting of the findings Kaustabh Chakraborty, Senior VP, Urban Ladder, said, “Over the last one year, we have seen Cochin emerge as a city with high potential. Customers are showing a keen inclination towards shopping online, and we seem to be a great fit for their aesthetic and quality requirements. The number of shoppers in the lower age band of 25-34 years is also increasing, which is our core Target group. Shoppers in Cochin value design, and want to shop with a trusted brand, which is exactly what Urban Ladder stands for.”
Urban Ladder is a curated home destination with more than 4000 products across 35+ categories in furniture and home décor such as sofas, beds, dining tables, bookshelves, lamps and carpets. The company is working on design insights from across the country, including Kochi to develop furniture range relevant to the city’s taste and preferences. The company has its own operations and delivery team in every city its present in, including Kochi.