Amritsar, January 07, 2022 (News Team): Pepperfry, India’s No.1 furniture and home products marketplace, announced the launch of its first Studio in Amritsar, Punjab. After witnessing a great response from its experiential Studios in Chandigarh and Pathankot, Pepperfry decided to further expand its presence in the state and cater to its discerning consumers. The offline expansion is in line with the company’s aim to penetrate niche markets and build the largest omni-channel business in the furniture and home products segment in India. Pepperfry, which launched its first Studio in 2014, currently has more than 100Studios across 50 plus cities in the country.
The Studio, which is launched in partnership with GSS & Sons, a sister company of Gokal Chand & Company, is situated in a prime location at Taylor Road, opposite Gandhi Ground in Amritsar, spanning a carpet area of 400sq.ft. It offers customers a first-hand experience of a curated range of furniture and décor, which is carefully selected from the differentiated portfolio of more than 1 lakh products available on Pepperfry’s website. These Studios provide the touch and feel experience for consumers to understand wood finishes and quality of these big-ticket items before purchasing them. It also houses design experts that offer complementary design consultancy thereby aiding consumers in creating their dream homes.
Building on their omni-channel network, in 2017, Pepperfry introduced a unique franchise model and in a very short span they launched 70FOFO Studios across metros, Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets like Pathankot, Trivandrum, Patna, Bengaluru, Indore,Chennai, Guwahati and Coimbatore. For these Franchise Studios, Pepperfry decided to partner with the finest local entrepreneurs who are well versed with hyperlocal demand cycles and trends. The company revised this franchise model in 2020 to make it more lucrative for both existing and potential franchise partners. It now offers a reward structure wherein the franchise owners can benefit by earning commission of 15% (previous model: 10%) on each online transaction made via the franchise studio.
In June 2021, Pepperfry launched the Pepperfry Accelerator Program with an aim to establish over 200 Studios in one year. The objective of this newly crafted program is to exponentially expand Pepperfry’s offline footprint by adding one entrepreneur a day for the rest of the year. However, the big differentiator of the new program is the Capex required by franchise partners, which is around INR 15 lakhs - one-third as compared to the existing franchise program.
Both the models are based on 100% price parity and does not require the partner to hold product inventory, making it a mutually beneficial business association.
Speaking of the launch Amruta Gupta, Business Head, Pepperfry said, “We are delighted to expand our omni-channel footprint by launching our first Studio in Amritsar in partnership with GSS & Sons. At Pepperfry, our aim is to be available to our customers through as many touchpoints as possible, offering great variety at great price points. Thus, in the current times where individuals have become more conscious towards their home-environment and are investing behind creating a space that is functional and aesthetic, we believe our Studios will aid consumers in creating an ideal home.”
Shivam Arora, Director, GSS & Sons, a sister company of Gokal Chand & Company(franchise partner)said, “We are extremely happy to partner with Pepperfry, India’s leading home and furniture marketplace. Pepperfry has pioneered a truly differentiated omnichannel business and we are proud to be a part of their journey in creating the largest omnichannel home and furniture business.”