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<ul><li>Bengaluru-based <keyword id="6368309" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="urban-ladder">Urban Ladder</keyword> has sacked 90 employees in order to save the company from sinking. </li><li>Reports say that the company took the step as it was unable to raise funds. </li><li>Urban Ladder has marquee investors like <keyword id="6360722" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ratan-tata">Ratan Tata</keyword>, Sequoia India, Steadview Capital, SAIF Partners, Kalaari Capital, among others on its board.</li></ul>Indian furniture retail <keyword id="138263" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="startup">startup</keyword> Urban Ladder has <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/urban-ladder-lays-off-nearly-100-employees/story/354828.html">reportedly</a> laid off about 100 employees. The startup is known to have taken this decision as it was unable to raise funds to scale. It is also struggling to attain profitability. In an interview to the <a href="https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/info-tech/short-of-funds-urban-ladder-axes-40-of-its-workforce/article27705500.ece">Hindu Business Line</a>, the startup’s founder and CEO Ashish Goel said that the move to fire employees was taken as they had no other option, for they would have had to shut down otherwise. However, Urban Ladder has clarified that the incident happened 3 months ago. "As an organization, February and March were not easy months for us, as we are a company that deeply appreciates its employees. Having said that, after taking those tough calls, we are happy to know that the employees we did part ways with have used Urban Ladder as a great stepping stone to pursue other, great opportunities within the industry and beyond. We look forward to the future as we have some exciting things in store in the upcoming few months,” said Goel. According to the official statement from the company, in February/March, 90 employees (from the head office in Bengaluru) had been let go from the organization. The previous total headcount number was 957 and now is 711 which amounts to about 25% and it also includes third party employees and resources. The startup had been looking to raise funds for the longest time but had been unable to do so. <a href="https://entrackr.com/2019/06/urbanladder-400-employee-layoff-profitability/">Reports</a> also say that Urban Ladder’s losses although reduced from last year, were still a significant amount. Its losses were ₹4.59 billion in 2016-17 and ₹1.17 billion in 2017-18. The news comes as a surprise one as Urban Ladder had successfully raised funding in the past. Some of its marquee investors include Ratan Tata, Sequoia India, Steadview Capital, SAIF Partners, Kalaari Capital, amongst others. In September 2018, reports said that, that the startup was looking to raise $30-40 million to expand its business. Urban Ladder was founded in 2012, had evolved to be a furniture brand and had even opened <a href="https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/urban-ladder-to-raise-usd-40-million-in-new-round-of-funding/story/282010.html">offline</a> outlets in Bengaluru and Delhi NCR. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/ikeas-franchise-partner-ingka-group-has-invested-in-livspace/articleshow/69413088.cms">IKEA's India partner invests in a home design startup that may in turn serve the Swedish retailer</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/pepperfry-to-ipo-soon-this-investor-says-yes/articleshow/68740748.cms">An investor in Pepperfry, India’s largest online furniture retailer, is in no rush to exit</a>

Urban Ladder had to let go 90 employees to be back on track for growth

<ul><li>In an interview with Business Insider, <keyword id="1870519" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ashish-Goel">Ashish Goel</keyword>, co-founder and CEO, <keyword id="6368309" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="urban-ladder">Urban Ladder</keyword> talks about the company’s expansion plans and the rough patch it had early this year. </li><li>Urban Ladder had to let go of 90 employees as a part of an organizational restructuring in early 2019. </li><li>However, it is present in 13 cities, and now looking to expand to 10 new cities in a year.</li></ul>Online furniture retailer Urban Ladder is in an expansion mode as it hopes to turn profitable by the end of 2019. Moreso, it also intends to go for an IPO in two years. The startup is now present in 13 cities. It also has physical retail stores in (Bangalore and Delhi, and is looking to expand offline as well. The startup however had to face a rough patch between February and March 2019, when it had to let go of 90 employees as a part of an organizational restructuring. “The online furniture space is one that is constantly evolving. As we evolve, the organizational focus, and structure will also evolve to cater to the needs of the sector. Because of the restructuring, some functions become more important while others were not the need of the hour at the time,” Ashish Goel, co-founder and CEO, Urban Ladder told Business Insider in an interview. This decision to restructure decision was backed by its investors.. “This, by no means, is a sign of the business being in trouble, but more so a sign of the business evolving and growing. Our investors are firmly backing us,” he said. <a href="https://entrackr.com/2019/06/urbanladder-400-employee-layoff-profitability/">Reports</a> also say that although Urban Ladder’s losses reduced from last year, they were still high. Its losses were ₹4.59 billion in 2016-17 and ₹1.17 billion in 2017-18. However, Goel is confident that they will turn profitable this year. Rising competition from <keyword id="6371031" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="IKEA">Ikea</keyword> and <keyword id="864887" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pepperfry">Pepperfry</keyword> Now, more than ever Urban Ladder which has been around for seven years, has to spruce up its business. Giants like Ikea from Sweden along with homegrown Pepperfry are turning the market competitive. As the market constantly evolves, Goel has these questions on his mind – How will they stay ahead of the curve given that there are multiple players in the market? How will they map and subsequently service the evolving needs of the Indian consumer base? How will they build a customer friendly support chain that will help deliver great post purchase experience? “It is a matter of balancing the relevance of our brand with a deeper and passionate understanding of our customer,” he said answering them himself.

Four questions that are on the mind of Urban Ladder’s founder as he battles competition from Ikea and Pepperfry

<ul><li>A millennial’s take on how to set up a room for ₹50,000 with options from <keyword id="6371031" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="IKEA">IKEA</keyword>, <keyword id="864887" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pepperfry">Pepperfry</keyword> and <keyword id="6368309" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="urban-ladder">Urban Ladder</keyword>. </li><li>I decided to invest in a little bit of commitment towards my house by buying furniture. </li><li>And here are the best deals I managed to grab from India’s leading online furniture retailers.</li></ul>If you are a millennial like me, who suffers from commitment issues, not just in relationships – welcome to the nomad life. When you are unable to live in a city for more than 2-3 years and hate being locked down, there comes an incessant need to pack up and move. Living the nomad life, you move in and out of rented apartments, refusing to invest in ‘permanent house’ furniture. In times of uncertainty, you have a certain bond with brokers and that one one lady who you have never met but you order home cooked food from. This has been my life for the past 9 years. But now, that I have grown up (read: realised I’m growing older), I decided to invest in a little bit of commitment towards my house, before I do it in a relationship. So, I set up a budget of ₹50,000 to buy a bed with a mattress, wardrobe, study table and a chair. Yes, ₹50,000, I said I have grown old, not rich. As every other millennial, getting out of my house to buy things would be blasphemy, so I turned to the holy shrine – the world wide web. Here are the options I gathered from IKEA, Pepperfry and Urban Ladder. Bed Now, this can be a tricky one. The bed you choose seems to define your well, ahem, dating life. A single bed means you are happy to be forever alone, you do you girl! (no pun intended). A king size bed makes way for a committed relationship, while a queen size bed settles comfortably somewhere between the well, ‘we are dating but let’s see where this goes’ phase. So yes, I decided to go for a wooden (or anything that looks wooden) queen size bed with storage to also hide my baggage (pun intended). 
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 IKEA: ₹20,990 Pepperfry: ₹14,249 (On sale) Urban Ladder ₹16,499 While I would go for the Pepperfry option, however without the on sale price, Urban Ladder would be a better option. However, if you would rather go for a metal bed frame, there were some pretty inexpensive options. Pepperfry has one for ₹6,999, IKEA for ₹11,990. Or you can even opt for a wooden bed without storage for anywhere between ₹10,000-12,000 from Pepperfry or Urban Ladder.Mattresses Mattresses are a tough one to decide without checking them out personally, but IKEA gave pretty good options under ₹4,000, while the starting price at PF was ₹5,000 and at UL it was ₹7,000. Hej, Ikea for mattresses! Wardrobe We have already made that clear, I have a lot of baggage so yes lots of storage is necessary. A 3-door wardrobe was what I always wanted. 
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 Ikea: ₹7,990 on sale, real price was ₹13,490 Pepper Fry: ₹11,592 on sale, real ₹21,897 Urban Ladder: ₹19,999 If you are a sale hogger like me, head to Pepperfry. But if it’s not discounted, the Urban Ladder option would be a better pick for its sturdy look with an attached mirror. Study table Let’s just pretend that I actually use a sit table and don’t just lie on the bed with my laptop, okay? That’s why I needed a study table to sit and write, and maybe restart that blog I abandoned years ago. 
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 Pepperfry: ₹4,155 on sale. Urban Ladder: Great sturdy one for ₹6,999 IKEA: A desk for ₹4,990Pepperfry is the winner for its sale prices, but if you aren’t really going to end up using the study table, the IKEA one would be a practical choice. Chair There’s no way I’m going to use a plastic chair for when my imaginary friends visit and I need more space. An accent chair would be a perfect finish to the room.
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 While Pepperfry offered a lot more when it comes to variety and sale prices, Urban Ladder won this one with its accent chairs that will act as a colour pop to break the monotony in a room. While IKEA didn’t have a lot of options for colourful accent chairs, this one particular one caught my attention. Conclusion: With great sale offers, I’m done with ₹39,426. However, if the discounted prices aren’t on offer, I will be overshooting my budget with the total coming up to ₹50,738.

I had ₹50,000 to set up my room and here are the options I got from IKEA, Pepperfry and Urban Ladder

‘If you’re someone who hates getting out of bed to get to work, this is the perfect job for you.’ 
 
When that’s the first line of a job description, you know you’re onto something. 
 
The job in question is of a ‘Sr. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Mattress+Tester&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Mattress Tester</a>’ at online furnishings portal <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Urban+Ladder&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Urban Ladder</a>. Posted on 30th March, it already has over 5720 views. 
 
So what’s life like as a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Mattress+Tester&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">mattress tester</a>? You’ll basically get to stay in bed pretty much the entire day and actually get paid for it. 
 
Here’s the official list of desired skill-sets: 
 
· A love for sleeping that would put Kumbhakarna to shame 
· Strong analytical skills and an insightful bent of mind 
· A good understanding of the best practices in mattress design 
· A passion for product quality and attention to detail 
· Demonstrated expertise in sleeping under varied conditions 
· A strong customer focus 
· A complete lack of enthusiasm and drive 
 
On a typical day, you’ll need to sleep on various <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Urban+Ladder&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Urban Ladder</a> mattresses to check for comfort and ease. 
 
Each mattress will need to be tested under different conditions, such as after consuming coffee and other caffeine-based drinks, after traveling long distances, as well as under different light and sound conditions. 
 
Wow, that’s quite something. 
 
Sounds like you? Like they say ‘don’t sleep on the opportunity’. Apply to <a href="mailto:sleep@urbanladder.com">sleep@urbanladder.com</a> with your resume and a cover letter! ;) 
 
<a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo/46570664.cms">Image Source</a>

This Job pays you to…Sleep!

Like any other startup striving to make work fun for its employees, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=urban+ladder&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">UrbanLadder</a>, the online furniture website too does offer the usual <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=employee+perks&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">perks to their employees.</a> 
 “We have free food for all our employees. There’s free breakfast, and lunch. We have fruits at 4 pm and snacks later,” says <keyword id="3397831" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rajeev-Srivatsa">Rajeev Srivatsa</keyword>, co-founder and COO, <keyword id="2539960" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Urbanladder">UrbanLadder</keyword>. 
 
But, what really sets the startup apart is their parental benefits. 
 
Srivatsa claims that almost 38% of their employees are women and thus it is imperative for them as a brand to undertake policies that help women at the workplace and the chief among them is their <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=maternity+benefits&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">maternity benefits</a>. 
 
As of April, the company has extended its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=maternity+leave&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">maternity leave</a> to twenty six weeks for their <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=employees&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">employees</a>. That is a whopping six months. 
 
Additionally, they also have the option of being able to take an extra three months of part-time work that the company hopes will act as a transitional period for all involved- the new mom, baby, the family and UrbanLadder. 
 
 
 
During this period, employees can choose to work upto 5 hours at an equivalent pay basis or opt for an additional three months of unpaid leave. 
 
Infact, these benefits also extend to those employees who choose to adopt or have surrogates. 
 
According to the company, the aim behind this move is to ensure that women don’t feel the need to take a break from their careers and then end up not returning to work full time. 
 
“We understand the difficulty in striking a balance between motherhood and work,” says the company. 
 UrbanLadder’s maternity policy even beats social networking giant <keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword>’s rather generous policy. As of the moment, news mothers in the country are entitled to 12 weeks of maternity leave from Facebook. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

This startup's maternity leave policy is the best thing to happen to working women in India

<ul><li><keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> has announced a Furniture Experience Centre in Bengaluru.</li><li>With a 1,800 square feet space, Flipkart joins <keyword id="864887" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pepperfry">Pepperfry</keyword> and <keyword id="6368309" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="urban-ladder">Urban Ladder</keyword> who had long before launched offline experience studios.</li><li>Flipkart is working with Google to launch Google Lens at these stores.</li></ul>Indian online retail giant Flipkart has made its offline debut, announcing its furniture experience centre in Bengaluru. With this move, Flipkart is in direct competition with Pepperfry, Ikea, Urban Ladder. "As a customer-focused organisation, we understand the requirements of customers and hence 'FurniSure'. The idea behind the FurniSure Experience Zone is to allow customers to explore Flipkart Furniture's offerings in a new and innovative fashion,” <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/retail/flipkart-comes-with-first-offline-presence-with-furniture-experience-centre-in-bengaluru/articleshow/70421687.cms">said </a>Flipkart Vice-President (Furniture, Electronics and Private Label) Adarsh Menon. The retailer is also working with <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/retail/flipkart-comes-with-first-offline-presence-with-furniture-experience-centre-in-bengaluru/articleshow/70421687.cms">Google</a> to integrate Google Lens at these stores for a better viewing experience for the consumers. Flipkart’s decision to open a 1,800 square feet experience centre comes at an important time in the country’s furniture industry. Swedish furniture giant Ikea is expanding its presence in India, both online and office. Ikea launched its first store in Hyderabad in 2018. Even before its second massive store in Mumbai opens, it has started taking <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/before-store-opens-ikea-to-go-online-in-mumbai/articleshow/70285600.cms">orders online</a>. On the other hand, <keyword id="6368349" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Online-Furniture">online furniture</keyword> marketplaces too realised the need to go offline. Pepperfry had launched its first offline studio in 2014. Since then, they expanded to 65 studios across 28 cities. In fact, in every city that Pepperfry has launched a studio, the sales had doubled. “While we don’t sell directly through our offline studios, they contribute significantly to our sales. Close to 40% of our overall turnover comes from the online bookings made at these studios,” Mihir Kulkarni, Vice President and Head of Omnichannel expansion, Pepperfry told Business Insider in an earlier interview. Meanwhile Urban Ladder, which had reported losses of ₹4.59 billion in 2016-17 and ₹1.17 billion in 2017-18, too <a href="https://www.livemint.com/companies/news/urban-ladder-says-omni-channel-calls-paying-off-to-boost-revenue-this-year-1548422228810.html">believes</a> that the omni-channel strategy with offline retail points would help turn their story around.

Flipkart goes offline with furniture, as did its rivals Pepperfry, Urban Ladder

<keyword id="1199916" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Belong">Belong</keyword>, a data analytics talent acquisition firm helping companies hire the right talent at the right time, boasts of a dynamic list of clients – from <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SnapDeal">Snapdeal</keyword>, Practo, Zivame to Ola and <keyword id="6368309" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Urban-Ladder">Urban ladder</keyword>. 
 
The reason it has been able to get onboard big names on its platform is because it's solving the recruitment concerns of these companies differently – it’s using big data, search, and predictive analytics to make a recruiter’s job easier. They no longer need to screen thousands of resumes to find ‘hidden gems’ -- but can instead target and engage candidates with surgical precision in just a few clicks. 
 For this, Belong is using machine learning to optimize the process of shortlisting a candidate based on an individual recruiter’s search patterns. This, the company claims, greatly reduces the effort of a recruiter as it replicates what recruiters and <keyword id="6357342" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hiring">hiring</keyword> managers try to do when they look at a candidate’s background except the algorithms draw on far more information for an informed decision. 
 We decided to chat with <keyword id="14193" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vijay-Sharma">Vijay Sharma</keyword>, CEO and co-founder of Belong, to understand what these high growth companies they work with are looking for in candidates. 
 
"They look for an entrepreneurial DNA in their candidates..." 
 
Sharma told Business Insider – “These candidates would have to be ex-entrepreneurs or co-founders or product leaders with experience in building and launching global products from the scratch. People who are comfortable getting their hands dirty, for example, tech leaders who are still comfortable coding.” 
 
He said most of these companies are actively encouraging a “micro-startup” culture within their teams. 
 
"Because many of them are moving into new categories or businesses, they want people who can come onboard and take on business ownership. For a product manager, this could involve P/L metrics,” he added. Additionally, because these companies are building for a global market, they also prefer people with international experience. 
 
Another key aspect, the Belong CEO said, companies are looking out for is - “Why someone is joining them”. 
 
“In the recent past, companies did attract a lot of talent looking for higher salaries and perks. They are still willing to splurge on talent, but they seek strong alignment on vision, culture, and role-fit,” he concluded. 
 
These trends show how India has come a long way in the recruitment journey already. As it continues to evolve, companies like Belong (which are bringing technology to HR) are bound to completely reshape and revolutionize the recruiting landscape in the near future.

CEO of the firm hiring for Ola, Snapdeal, Urban Ladder tells us what high growth companies are looking for in candidates

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=flipkart&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Flipkart</a> is foraying into categories apart from electronics, mobiles and apparels. Now, it wants to become number one in online retailer of furniture and has set an ambitious target for itself. 
 Without compromising on profits, <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> wants to achieve a 15-fold growth in the <keyword id="3327588" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="furniture-category">furniture category</keyword>. 
 
Flipkart is brining quite a few changes such as adding home furnishing and automobiles in its product category. 
 In the furniture one, Flipkart will face tough competition from <keyword id="6368309" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Urban-Ladder">Urban Ladder</keyword>, <keyword id="864887" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pepperfry">Pepperfry</keyword> and Fabfurnish. 
 
Sandeep C Patil, a senior director at Flipkart, told ET, “Furniture is a $20 billion market, which is bigger than the mobile phone market.” 
 
Reportedly, Flipkart could achieve Rs 2,600 crore in furniture sales by the end of 2016. 
 
Meanwhile, Pepperfry and Urban Ladder want to register growth of at least 150%. 
 
"Right now verticals are bigger than horizontals in the category, but even after launching in October we are quite close to them in size. If our projections hold, we will be multiple in size of verticals," told Patil. 
 
Morgan Stanley has predicted that home furnishing will boom and reap huge revenues for ecommerce firms. 
 
(Image: Thinkstock)

Flipkart is expanding its product portfolio, wants to yield profits from furniture category

<ul><li>Swedish furniture retailer Ikea has opened its online for the residents of Mumbai, India's financial capital.</li><li>The company's launch in India's financial capital comes a year after its debut in Hyderabad.</li><li>That would pit the company directly in competition with the likes of Amazon, Flipkart, and Urban Ladder.</li></ul>Swedish furniture retailer Ikea has opened its online for the residents of Mumbai, India's financial capital. The launch in India's financial capital has come a year after the debut in Hyderabad. Mumbai will be the first city in the world where the multinational furniture retailer is going online without a physical store. With the entry of Ikea into one of the country's biggest consumer markets, competition is heating in the furniture space between a host of retailers both online and offline including the likes of Urban Ladder, Pepperfry, Home Town and Home Centre. However, organised retail is only a small portion of the total furniture demand, for which these players will battling each other. Going online first is not the only thing different about Ikea’s entry into Mumbai. Even after its online debut, the iconic stores of gargantuan size, roughly half a million square feet each, will be absent at least to start with. “The smaller stores can be 50,000 sq. ft - 150,000 sq. ft., large depending on what locations we are able to find," India Managing Director <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ikea-mumbai-store-launch-to-take-on-pepperfry-urban-ladder-and-flipkart/articleshow/70563420.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Peter Betzel told Business Insider</a> in an interview earlier this month. While Betzel didn’t elaborate on the rationale, the smaller stores may make sense in a crowded place like Mumbai where real estate is available at an exorbitant premium and travel can be cumbersome even for interested customers. The New York experience Even in New York, Ikea has a ‘planning studio’ in the upscale Manhattan area and not the standard blue-box store. It seems to have a similar plan for Mumbai too. “In addition to ecommerce and the Navi store, IKEA will also open smaller city center stores. This will make us more accessible and bring us closer to where customers are,” Betzel said. Ikea calls these smaller stores ‘touch points’ for the customer to get an experience before making the purchase. “Currently the decision is to open two city center stores in different parts of Mumbai. There could be more online and offline touchpoints in the future based on the learnings from the market,” Ikea’s top boss in India explained. The race is hotting up While both Pepperfry and Urban Ladder may have a headstart, they are going up against a giant in Ikea. The two startups put together have received investments worth less than $300 million in the last six years. On the other hand, “Ikea has committed to invest 1.5 billion euros ($1.68 billion) so far. Three Indian cities are in the fast speed expansion markets namely Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi/NCR. Our focus on India will only increase in the future,” according to Betzel. Even Flipkart, India’s largest online retailer, now owned by Walmart, is looking to set up experience centres. It unveiled an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/flipkart-offline-furniture-store-puts-its-in-competition-with-pepperfry-ikea-urbanladder/articleshow/70427696.cms">1,800 square feet outlet in Bengaluru</a> on July 29. With the likes of Walmart and Ikea throwing in their hat, running against smaller but more agile and homegrown players like Pepperfry and Urban Ladder, furniture retail in India is certainly set for exciting times. That would pit the company directly in competition with the likes of Amazon, Flipkart, and Urban Ladder, who have spent years and billions in building a customer base in India. But Betzel is more sanguine than many others would be. “With more players, the whole category will grow even more. There is place for everyone,” he said. The furniture market in India is expected to be worth $17 billion in the next three years but the big shops, malls and snazzy online retailers with discounts and offers sell <a href="https://redseer.com/reports/disruption-in-indian-furniture-retailing/">less than two in every ten pieces of furniture</a> bought in India. The trend is changing, especially in urban areas, and there is enough headroom for growth for the organised segment. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ikea-mumbai-store-launch-to-take-on-pepperfry-urban-ladder-and-flipkart/articleshow/70563420.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">Ikea will make its Mumbai debut ‘very shortly’, says India chief as the first store in Hyderabad turns a year old</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/i-visited-ikeas-new-manhattan-location-and-it-was-like-nothing-else-ive-seen-from-the-retailer/articleshow/68821133.cms">I visited Ikea's new Manhattan location - and it was like nothing else I've seen from the retailer</a>

Ikea in Mumbai: The Swedish retailer is wooing online shoppers in India's financial capital

Ikea has spent five years in India, and its flagship store in Hyderabad is turning a year old. Now, it’s time for its debut in the country’s financial capital, Mumbai, according to Peter Betzel, the Swedish furniture retailer’s Managing Director in India. An announcement is expected within the next few days, according to another source. “While the Navi Mumbai store is getting ready, our focus now is to launch e-commerce in Mumbai very shortly, to be able to meet the many Mumbaikars sooner,” Betzel told Business Insider in an exclusive interview. This is the first time the global retailer is entering a market without a physical store. That would pit the company directly in competition with the likes of Amazon, <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>, and <keyword id="6368309" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="urban-ladder">Urban Ladder</keyword>, who have spent years and billions in building a customer base in India. But Betzel is more sanguine than many others would be. “With more players, the whole category will grow even more. There is place for everyone,” he said. The furniture market in India is expected to be worth $17 billion in the next three years but the big shops, malls and snazzy online retailers with discounts and offers sell <a href="https://redseer.com/reports/disruption-in-indian-furniture-retailing/">less than two in every ten pieces of furniture</a> bought in India. The trend is changing, especially in urban areas, and there is enough headroom for growth for the organised segment. 
 
 
 
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 Touch points Going online first is not the only thing different about Ikea’s entry into Mumbai. The iconic stores of gargantuan size, roughly half a million square feet each, will be absent at least to start with. “The smaller stores can be 50,000 sq. ft - 150,000 sq. ft., large depending on what locations we are able to find,” he said. While Betzel didn’t elaborate on the rationale, the smaller stores may make sense in a crowded place like Mumbai where real estate is available at an exorbitant premium and travel can be cumbersome even for interested customers. Even in New York, Ikea has a ‘planning studio’ in the upscale Manhattan area and not the standard blue-box store. It seems to have a similar plan for Mumbai too. “In addition to ecommerce and the Navi store, IKEA will also open smaller city center stores. This will make us more accessible and bring us closer to where customers are,” Betzel said. Ikea calls these smaller stores ‘touch points’ for the customer to get an experience before making the purchase. “Currently the decision is to open two city center stores in different parts of Mumbai. There could be more online and offline touchpoints in the future based on the learnings from the market,” Ikea’s top boss in India explained. Been there, done that Similar formats have been tried by other online furniture retailers in India like Pepperfry and Urban Ladder. Pepperfry had launched its first offline studio in 2014. Since then, they have expanded to 65 studios across 28 cities. In fact, in every city that Pepperfry has launched a studio, the sales had doubled, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/pepperfry-studio-location-to-increase-50-as-sales-double/articleshow/69859900.cms">according to the management</a>. “While we don’t sell directly through our offline studios, they contribute significantly to our sales. Close to 40% of our overall turnover comes from the online bookings made at these studios,” Mihir Kulkarni, Vice President and Head of Omnichannel expansion, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/flipkart-offline-furniture-store-puts-its-in-competition-with-pepperfry-ikea-urbanladder/articleshow/70427696.cms">Pepperfry told Business Insider in an earlier interview</a>. The race is hotting up While both Pepperfry and Urban Ladder may have a headstart, they are going up against a giant in Ikea. The two startups put together have received investments worth less than $300 million in the last six years. On the other hand, “Ikea has committed to invest 1.5 billion euros ($1.68 billion) so far. Three Indian cities are in the fast speed expansion markets namely Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi/NCR. Our focus on India will only increase in the future,” according to Betzel. Even Flipkart, India’s largest online retailer, now owned by Walmart, is looking to set up experience centres. It unveiled an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/flipkart-offline-furniture-store-puts-its-in-competition-with-pepperfry-ikea-urbanladder/articleshow/70427696.cms">1,800 square feet outlet in Bengaluru</a> on July 29. With the likes of Walmart and Ikea throwing in their hat, running against smaller but more agile and homegrown players like Pepperfry and Urban Ladder, furniture retail in India is certainly set for exciting times. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/i-visited-ikeas-new-manhattan-location-and-it-was-like-nothing-else-ive-seen-from-the-retailer/articleshow/68821133.cms">I visited Ikea's new Manhattan location - and it was like nothing else I've seen from the retailer</a>

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