Pepperfry launches gift registry, hopes it brings in 25 pc revenue

Mumbai-based online marketplace for furniture and home products, Pepperfry, has launched ‘Gift Registry’ service, aiming to make gifting a more social process.

In what is claimed to be a first of its kind service by an Indian ecommerce company, the customer can add their favourite pieces to a wish-list/registry, and share it with friends and family via WhatsApp and other social networks, who in turn can buy it for the customer if they wish to. It also lets multiple individuals to contribute money (as they wish) for a selected product. Once Pepperfry receives the complete value for the wish-listed product, the order will be delivered to the recipient.

The programme, which was launched four days ago, has already seen more than 100 customers from metro cities as well as Tier II and Tier III cities like Lucknow, Surat, Cooch Behar, and Jammu.

In a chat with YourStory, Abhimanyu Lal, Chief Product Officer, Pepperfry said, “We have had the idea for a gifting registry for a while and have been working on it since last year. We spoke to several customers about the challenges they face, and what they want. In fact, we have a product manager who was dedicated only for this programme for six months.”

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Large audience  

Pepperfry’s customer base is mostly in the age group of 29-45 years. For the gifting registry programme, the company is targeting the relatively untapped wedding market. “If there are 10 million weddings happening in India in a year, we want two percent of this base,” says Abhimanyu. 

But unlike in the West, asking for wedding gifts is not common in India. Hence, Abhimanyu says, an immediate use case is colleagues pitching in for buying a gift.

“Since this is online, people from different locations can contribute easily, and we will take care of the delivery, etc. Besides weddings, this registry can also be useful for gifting occasions like housewarming, anniversaries, childbirth, baby shower, etc.,” Abhimanyu tells YourStory. 

Multiple channels

The Gift Registry service is available across all Pepperfry platforms - desktop, WAP and app. All the products available on the Pepperfry marketplace can be availed through this service. 

Also, Pepperfry has been actively building its omni-channel strategy through (physical) experience centres over the last few years. Abhimanyu believes that since these centres already contribute a large number of orders for bulk items, customers will be keen to do the registry process for this category in the centres, especially since the stores provide guidance.

So far, the gift registry programme has not had any monetary investment. By October this year, Pepperfry plans to launch a proper marketing campaign focused on this service.

Such programmes take time to generate profit, as it demands a behavioural change in customers. Pepperfry is expecting this initiative to bring in 25 percent of its total revenue in the next four years.

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