Wakefit leans on small-ticket home products to drive volumes, focuses on experiential retail

IPO-bound Wakefit is sharpening its focus on high-volume home categories such as curtains, tabletop décor and soft furnishings, positioning them as entry-level products that draw new shoppers into its ecosystem and build trust before they graduate to big-ticket furniture purchases.

"There is potential opportunity of making more margins. But I think more than that, we see that these are volume driver categories. A large share of walk-ins at these legacy retailers end up buying these loose, small categories, and they basically become a trust driver, getting a customer to take home a Rs 500- 1,000 product, then eventually they might buy furniture from you. You get accustomed to the brand by buying those small categories, and it also becomes an entry into the home of a customer,” explained Ankit Garg, ​Chairperson, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director, in an interview with YourStory.

In the six months ended September 2025, furnishings accounted for just about 10% of the total revenue, but 54% of total volume, as per its IPO documents.

Wakefit expects curtains and tabletop décor to become some of its fastest-scaling new lines as it expands beyond sleep products. The company said curtains remain “largely unorganised” and offer a clear opportunity to solve for selection, material design and end-to-end execution, including measurement, installation and made-to-order services.

The omnichannel retailer plans to open its first large-format, company-operated Jumbo Store in Bengaluru in the next 15 to 16 months, offering a more comprehensive assortment alongside restaurant amenities.

While the food-led store experience is influenced by IKEA, Wakefit plans to take the model beyond a traditional marketplace setup by building design-led, curated room concepts rather than just displaying assortments. The retailer aims to position the stores as experiential destinations rather than purely retail formats.

Wakefit has joined the ranks of a host of startups trying to ride the robust investor sentiment wave in the back half of the year to a public debut. The list includes names like Groww, Lenskart and Pine Labs, with other contenders like Meesho already in the process. The company plans to raise Rs 377 crore to fund its offline expansion via company-owned and company-operated stores, as well as invest in brand-building initiatives.

"Now we have the responsibility of taking along a larger set of investors with the same thought process — why we are doing something, what are the guardrails, how we expect to grow on that particular new initiative. I think it’s a responsibility of how to communicate to a larger thing. But our DNA of being customer-obsessed, experimental, ensuring that we are very frugal — that cannot change. If we pretend for the sake of public markets, then I believe it will be a failure," explained Chaitanya Ramalingegowda,Promoter and Executive Director, on the company's strategy for approaching public market investors.

Wakefit has set its price band at Rs 185 to Rs 195, which values the company at $669 million at the upper end of its price range. The IPO is expected to open for bidding next week, on December 8. It consists of a fresh issue of Rs 377 crore and an offer-for-sale of 4.67 crore shares.

The Rs 1,288-crore IPO is set to deliver stellar gains for its promoters and early investors. Garg and Ramalingegowda are expecting to take home gains to the tune of Rs 150 crore and Rs 87 crore, respectively. Selling shareholders like Verlinvest are looking at 2.3x returns on their investment, while Peak XV is taking home a whopping 850% return on its investment.

(The story was updated to reflect accurate designation for promoters)