Kolkata: a promising online furniture market

Kolkata: a promising online furniture market

Urban Ladder identifies emerging online furniture purchase trends in Kolkata

Urban Ladder, India’s leading online décor and furniture company, today unveiled interesting patterns of ‘online furniture purchase trends’ in Kolkata.The trends identified are an analysis of online furniture purchases and findings through customer interactions, from over 2000 users in Kolkata, over the last one year (July 2015 – June 2016)as Urban Ladder completes one year of operations in Kolkata.

As a rising metropolitan city, Kolkata has a substantial growing urban population.In a world where different generationsco-exist, Kolkata presents a perfect picture of modern India, with a hint of tradition and culture. A city dominated by several offline furniture retailers, people of Kolkata are increasingly seeing value in online furniture companies, and steadily getting onto the online furniture bandwagon. Focused on design, people in Kolkata look for aesthetically appealing furniture; they also pay close attention to quality and durability of furniture they purchase. Kolkata is among the top 7 cities for Urban Ladder.

South Kolkata contributes to 60% of furniture purchases made on Urban Ladder. The average age group of customers buying furniture online continues to be 25 – 34 years, which is the same core age of our target group in other cities.However, among the older populace, Urban Ladder has seen a steady increase in purchases made by customers in the 45+ agecategory, contributing to 44% of Kolkata’s revenue.

The three most popular spaces that people in Kolkata have furnished in the last year is their living room, followed by the dining room and then the bedroom. This is followed by kid’s furniture and outdoor furniture. 44% of customers in Kolkata buy furniture for the living room, followed by 23% for the dining room.  A city known for its rich literature and culture, it comes as no surprise that bookshelves and lighting are the highest purchased subcategories for the living room. 

Word of mouth is a strong component in the decision making process for the people of Kolkata. Decisions are strongly influenced by the opinion of family members.When buying furniture, the aesthetic appeal of a productis of higher priority in comparison to the functional need of furniture required. People in Kolkata are willing to spend more in exchange for quality, design and service. This is reflective in their ticket size, which is 5% above the average ticket size.

Commenting on the findings Kaustabh Chakraborty, Senior VP, Urban Ladder, said, “Since launch, we have witnessed a high furniture retail appetite in Kolkata. Furniture is a matter of pride for people living in this ‘city of joy’. Customers prioritise aesthetic appeal and quality of a product. Buyers in Kolkata relate well to our design philosophy, especially the quality of wood used. We are positive of growth in the region and will continue to cater to this growing market segment.”

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 Kolkata to develop furniture range relevant to the city’s taste and preferences. Urban Ladder has its own operations and delivery team in every city its present in, including Kolkata.

About Urban Ladder
Urban Ladder was co-founded by Ashish Goel (CEO) and Rajiv Srivatsa (COO) in July 2012. The leading online furniture and home décor company provides a curated destination for home solutions, to help the Urban Indian build well-furnished, beautiful homes.

With over 5000 products and 35 categories such as wardrobes, sofas, beds, dining tables, storage shelves etc., Urban Ladder is India’s leading online furniture company. The furniture is closely curated with design inputs from Urban Ladder’s in-house team of experienced designers. At present, Urban Ladder delivers to 19 cities in India (Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi/NCR, Chennai, Goa, Pune, Hyderabad, Cochin Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Surat, Kolkata Mangalore, Jaipur & Baroda) and this number is expected to grow soon.

Please visit www.urbanladder.com  for more.