PepperFry – Marketing Strategies | Furniture Startup Marketing Ideas
PepperFry is an e-tail platform for furniture sales all over the country. The company launched its own online retail website in 2012. Its headquarters are situated in Mumbai, India. PepperFry created a new marketplace for online furniture sales in India. The Indian furniture industry has ranked fifth largest market in the world with the home furniture industry alone valued at a more than $20 billion market. Pepperfry, another one of the best furniture industries, was launched in November 2011 and was founded by former-eBay CEO Ambareesh Murty and one of his former colleagues at eBay, Ashish Shah.
1. Product Strategy:
PepperFry is an ecommerce platform in India which focuses on selling types of furniture and other household accessories by both online and offline mode. PepperFry first began as an online marketplace platform where merchants can list their furniture products for sales. The company offers more than 1 million furniture products which is indeed a huge number. The products range from furnishing to kitchen and dining as a part of its product offerings in its marketing mix. Coffee table is the most sold furniture item through its platform. The company ventured into home décor business with the launch of Studio PepperFry in December 2014. Studio PepperFry provides services ranging from space planning and perfect approach to selection of furniture and guide for material specification. The company has launched its app also to enhance its engagement with the customers.
2. Pricing Strategy:
PepperFry prices its offering at competitive and affordable prices so that even the middle class can also afford it. The company also brings in sales discounts and several offers for limited windows to boost up sales and to create buzz between the customers. PepperFry uses periodic referral and discounted coupon codes for certain categories of product. It has also collaborated with other credit and debit cards companies and offers special discounts to the partner credit card company’s card holders.
3. Place & Distribution Strategy:
PepperFry has covered more than 500 cities under its service offerings. The company has 17 major hubs across the country. It has sold furniture in Jodhpur in Rajasthan to a customer in Mizoram covering 2664 km for fulfilment in process as now you can guess that the distribution channels of PepperFry is quite strong. PepperFry owns 400 vehicles as on April 2016 for the fulfilment of orders. The company has built its own Padgha Warehouse, the largest furniture warehouse all over the country. Most of the company’s warehouses are present in Western and Southern parts of India. The company has opened more than 20 Studio PepperFry across the country to increase the customer experience and create a pull for purchase from its online marketplace.
4. Promotion & Advertising Strategy:
PepperFry spends its profit heavily on advertisements as it tries to increase the brand awareness level and sales too. Their marketing strategy is built around helping people to make purchase decisions correctly.
● Most of the advertisement of the company happens on tv. As for Indians, watching tv is the best timepass. Hence, tv advertisements are considered the best in terms of increasing the sales and customers.
● PepperFry also advertises through paid print media and radio. In the first few years its ad campaigns were focussed on building the trust around the brand and online purchase of furniture. Once they have reached sufficient awareness among the consumers later ad campaigns are more focussed on providing specific benefits like looks and design of product.
● PepperFry is also utilizing digital media platforms for promoting its brand and business.
● To create a good impression on others, only high quality images of products are posted on the webpage. As per company’s research more than 65% of the customers are women who shop after 8 P.M on weekdays and on weekends and accordingly the company designs its promotional campaigns.