“We started offline stores to provide a holistic experience to our customers”, says Vikram Chopra, Co-founder, FabFurnish

In conversation with Vikram Chopra, Co-founder, FabFurnish

How and when did you feel the need to start FabFurnish? Was it based on a personal experience or did you simply see it as an existing gap in the market?

Indian home and furniture is a $20bn market and growing at a fast pace but surprisingly lacks organized brands of scale and repute. Hence, the experience of setting up home is a painful one right from identifying where you could get quality and designs, to being able to trust the merchant, to finding inspirations and ideas. We saw this as a big opportunity to tap and hence, we started FabFurnish.com with a vision to help consumers create beautiful homes within affordable budgets. We are striving to be India’s largest furniture and home décor brand.

How different is FabFurnish’s model from others in the same segment?

We differentiate ourselves with our niche and carefully curated collection, our product imagery, multitude of payment options offered, and superior customer service. Moreover, we are very innovative when it comes to marketing, and that has given us an edge over our online competition. We are a dedicated online shopping destination for designer furniture, furnishings, décor items and kitchenware.

Our USP lies in –

a) Large, rare, stylish, yet affordable collection – We have an assortment of more than 1 lakh tastefully picked home products, across a varied price range to cater to every customer’s individual needs.

b) Thorough product display – We provide nearly 10 photographs of almost all furniture items to help people take an informed decision. A consumer can get a complete 360-view of any product that he is looking to buy. We want to set a benchmark when it comes to product imagery and presentation in e-commerce.

c) Affordable Pricing – Our aim is to introduce latest design trends in Indian homes and still maintain an affordable pricing.

d) Convenient payment options – As offering COD (cash on delivery) is not a viable option for furniture items, we have introduced a “part-payment” method, where a customer can pay some amount through card and the rest is cash on delivery.

e) Brick and mortar concept – As a brand, we want to provide a holistic experience to consumers, and offline stores help us do that by giving customers a chance to experience the products before they buy. Thus, stores also help us build trust and credibility.

f) Pan India shipment

What is the best marketing move that you’ve initiated which sets you apart from your competitors?

Our product range is refreshed on a daily basis. Keeping up with the latest trends, and seasonality, redefining home fashion is our prime job. Today, we have a varied assortment of 1,00,000 products. We have identified niches that are not easily available offline. Recliners, collapsible furniture, and bakeware, to name a few, sell like hot cakes.

Where will the most significant growth occur in the company in the next few years?

FabFurnish intends on becoming the biggest offline and online player in the fast growing $20 billion market for home and furniture in India. It has therefore invested in the brick and mortar concept to establish further trust & credibility. FabFurnish.com has aggressive plans to expand the number of offline stores to push its private labels as part of its brand building exercise. Our main aim is to make our brands available to a bigger chunk of consumers through this. Backed by its unmatched range of contemporary décor solutions, employee strength of 250+ and accelerated pace of growth, the company envisions becoming a billion dollar company and the largest player in the home & lifestyle segment in India.

What has been your single biggest challenge in sourcing and retaining talent? What are the key qualities you look out for in a potential hire?

Hiring the right team is important. People, who are passionate, agile and trustworthy, are the kind we look out for at the time of hiring. Having the core team in place is critical for an idea to flourish. No matter the business you are in, it’s the people who can make or break your business.

Rapid Five:

• When you were growing up, what did you want to be?

I love stock markets investing. Had I not been an entrepreneur, I would have explored that field professionally.

•  What has gotten you this far?

Hold on to your belief and work towards it. Be persistent in your efforts and don’t quit, sooner or later success will be yours.

•  A tech gadget you can’t live without?

I always carry Fitbit with me because it helps me stay motivated and tracks my physical activity. It keeps me active and pushes me to visit the gym even while I am travelling.

•  What advice would you have for someone starting their own company?

Every project takes time; nothing happens overnight. Six months, a year, or more, with trials and errors are all part of the game. Never give up.

•  How do you unwind and relax?

I love to read, especially non-fiction. Exercising regularly also helps me in unwinding.