Pepperfry, Niche Furniture eTailer - First Mover Advantage!

Pepperfry, Niche Furniture eTailer - First Mover Advantage!

Tags: Internet Website Portals Platform Amazon FlipKart Pepperfry Online Offline Etailers Advertise Market Shopping Curated Products Brands Purchases Orders Free Fast Shipping Transport Tracking Rental Consultations Modular Solutions Kitchens Wardrobes Customised Studios Installation Services Home Needs Decor Furniture Electrical Goods Hardware Art Clocks Vases Planters Collectibles Candles Lights Fragrances Lamps Lighting Bed Sheets Blankets Quilts Table Linen Cushions Pillows Towels Curtains Carpets Mattresses Cookware Cookers Chimneys Blenders Beverage Sandwich Snack Makers Juicers Choppers Slicers Dish Washers Refrigerators Mixer Grinders Ovens Gas Stoves Water Purifiers Geysers Rates Prices Cost Amounts Coupons Discounts Offers Budgets Payments Debit Credit Gift Cards Net Banking Wallet Paypal EMI COD Secured Information Customers Experience Quality Positive Negative Feedback Responses Defective Problem Complaints Return Replacement Refund Policy Escalation Selling Merchants Program

The online segment is heating up these days with a variety of products aimed at customers. You name it and and you find it offered online on one of the many shopping websites. In this area, the furniture market is gaining prominence. It is now peppered with many furniture etailers. While there are many online portals dealing with furniture like Amazon and FlipKart, yet they are not niche players. That is where niche players are carving out a place for themselves. Pepperfry is one of the topmost brands now that has established itself as a niche furniture etailer! If you are looking for anything in furniture and home decor, then you will definitely find it on www.pepperfry.com. The etailer was one of the earliest startups in the furniture ecosystem that went into online portals.

Here is a look at what makes Pepperfry special in the niche online furniture segment.

1. Well defined website with user friendly interface. Images optimised and loads fast on a range of devices and varying internet speeds without any drag.
2. The portal has categorised its products systematically making it easy for customers to choose from a range of products.
3. It has clear presence in social media viz., Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube and Google+. The advantages of social media presence is that customers can bookmark their selections easily for later reference. Further, if you wish to provide positive or negative feedback, that becomes easier and faster as responses are also quicker.
4. For those who are comfortable using mobile devices, Pepperfry app is available for Android and Apple Operating Systems.
5. Quite a few of us are used to do window shopping and deferring our actual purchases to a later point of time. In such cases, the website has a user friendly feature to bookmark your choices or Wish List them in your online Pepperfry account. 
6. The website offers well known domestic and international brands on its platform at competitive rates that are not so easily available elsewhere.
7. While Pepperfry's core product line is furniture, yet it also deals with many other products other than furniture from a home needs perspective such as wall art, wall hangings, clocks, vases, pots, planters, collectibles, candles, tea lights, fragrances, lamps, lighting, bed sheets, blankets, quilts, table linen, cushions, pillows, towels, curtains, carpets, mattresses, cookware, cookers, chimneys, blenders, beverage makers, sandwich makers, snack makers, juicers, choppers, slicers, dish washers, refrigerators, mixer grinders, ovens, gas stoves, water purifiers, geysers, hardware and other electrical goods. The list is rather long but suffice it to say that you will find almost all of your home needs requirements here on Pepperfry.
8. In large number of cases, Pepperfry also takes care of your installation needs for any of your orders purchased through it though this feature is limited to only few cities and is not universally available. In locations where installation services are unavailable, customers will need to make their own arrangements.
9. Additionally, the portal also offers consultations for modular solutions for your home such as modular kitchens and modular wardrobes. Through this feature, you can get customised modular furniture for your home. Again, the only flipside is that it is available only in few cities.
10. Understandably, many of us still hesitate to purchase directly through online portals especially if the order value is high. While penetration of online shopping is on the increase, yet it still has a long way to go. For such kind of people, Pepperfry has the options of brick and mortar Pepperfry Studios that are located in key cities wherein customers can check their needs in person through touch and feel and make their purchases. Unfortunately, this is a feature limited to few select cities. For the rest of us, we still have to purchase online directly through Pepperfry or its peers or go to a brick and mortars store if we are not prepared to do so.

Pepperfry, Niche Furniture eTailer - First Mover Advantage!

11. Customers can avail of free shipping where their order value is a minimum of Rs.999/-.
12. One key differentiator between Pepperfry and its competitors is that it offers faster shipping.
13. There are also tracking features available for your shipped orders so that you are apprised of its movement.
14. The latest trend is to opt for rental furniture. This is gaining traction these days as it is targeted at people with high mobility who move frequently between cities on account of their work schedules and therefore, do not wish to purchase furniture as it will be a hassle to keep spending on their transport. For such groups, Pepperfry offers furniture rentals on selected goods. However, this feature unfortunately is limited to some cities only.
15. Offers range of discounts through the year and on special events suiting the budgets of different groups of people. In fact, there are deeper discounts if you are new customer registering for your account first time. You are issued coupons with limited time frame that you can apply on your selected products and avail discounted prices.
16. Multiple payments options are available for customers such as Debit Cards, Credit Cards, Net Banking, Pepperfry Gift Cards, Wallet, Paypal and EMI. A variety of Credit & Debit Cards are supported including International Cards. COD is available on orders basis certain parameters. The portal offers No Cost EMI as well. All the payments are secured so that there is no leakage of confidential information.
17. From a customer service perspective, customers can reach out to agents through eMail, Chat, Phone or social media. Sadly, call-in number is not toll-free and customers will be charged on their calls by their respective telecom provider. There is also no direct email address that you can address your complaints - instead, you would need to fill-in a web form. Apart from this, it has a comprehensive FAQs section on its website that customers will find very helpful.
18. The portal has a clear escalation matrix defined for customer complaints. In case there are any issues, customers can opt either for replacement or refund of the product to their original source of payment. 
19. If you interested in selling your products on the platform, then there is a merchants program on Pepperfry that facilitates and promotes merchants on its portal.

We have not yet made purchases of substantial amounts on the portal. However, we did have a smooth experience with the few purchases we made till date. The feedback we have received from family, friends and acquaintances has also been essentially positive. However, do remember that their return and refund policy on large value orders may sometimes get tricky. So please be cautious that your choices are well made. Further, a good number of features like Furniture Installation, Pepperfry Studios, Furniture Rentals and Modular Consults are limited to few cities only. So if you are not in those cities, then it is going to be a flipside for you.

Sometimes, we have heard that they are not very open to negative feedback. For example, it has been noted on internet that their products are not thoroughly curated in which cases what you receive may not be as it was advertised or may be defective or not qualitative. This becomes a serious issue when the orders are of large value. When some customers reverted to them, they were surprised that their feedback was not well received and their accounts were blocked. Also, be it noted that the price that is displayed on their website including coupon discounts does not include shipping cost (if any) and taxes. You get to know the final price only when you are completing the payment.

That said, every portal has its pros and cons. The trick is to be fully aware and make cautious choices that suit your requirements. From our perspective, Pepperfry has worked out for us as it has one of the most comprehensive product ranges in the online or offline market. Moreover, sometimes, if the order value is less and you have a problem, they are generous and they just refund the amount without even bothering to pick up the product. This is a rarity and we have not seen this with any other online shopping portal.

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