Chumbak looking at design-centric growth

Hyderabad: Chumbak, an omnichannel lifestyle company, is looking at expanding its home decor, furnishing, wall decor and lifestyle merchandise with a focus on design and sustainability. The company caters to a customer base of over 6,00,000 and is planning to raise funds through investors to accelerate further growth to expand its market presence.     Vasant […]

Hyderabad: Chumbak, an omnichannel lifestyle company, is looking at expanding its home decor, furnishing, wall decor and lifestyle merchandise with a focus on design and sustainability.

The company caters to a customer base of over 6,00,000 and is planning to raise funds through investors to accelerate further growth to expand its market presence.    

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Vasant Nangia, CEO, Chumbak, told Telangana Today, “We have over 50 company-owned and operated stores pan-India including four stores in Hyderabad. All our stores are in tier-1 cities and gradually we will be foraying into tier-2 cities across the country preferably through regionally well-established franchisees, including in Telangana. Next year, we are looking at expanding our retail presence.”

Initial focus has been on Indian customers but gradually Chumbak has evolved as India-inspired design platform catering to global customers, he added.

When asked about the Hyderabad market, Nangia said, “Hyderabad is a key city for the brand and is the fourth largest market after Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi. On average, Chumbak sees a basket size of at least two products in a cart. Hyderabad’s average purchase ticket size has been higher than other markets, which shows there is a keen interest in design-rich products. The city is also a key market in terms of furniture and gifting of products.”  

Over the years, the company has not only expanded its product range but also presented an evolved, globally relevant design. “All our products have a signature design. The platform offers a range of products including wing chairs, tables, easy chairs, benches, clocks, wall paintings, bedding, dining, garden, and products from other categories. The company has over 2,000 products, which are procured from Indian and overseas vendors, while the designs are from Chumbak. The company also has exclusive furniture suppliers.”      

Omnichannel approach

The company expects the share of digital platforms to settle at around 60-65 per cent, with the remaining (35 per cent) coming from offline channels (stores). The company wants to cater to the Indian diaspora in Southeast Asia to start with and expand to other overseas markets gradually. The overseas markets will be tapped through the digital platform primarily, backed by select offline anchor stores.      

A year ago, Chumbak went into omnichannel mode, and this is helping customers to look at the products online and visit the store and buy products. The company has partnerships with Amazon and Myntra. Omnichannel has become a fundamental component of the business. Bulk of shopping is done on mobile today and through the app.

He said, “Chumbak uses data insights from the platform yet paying attention to data privacy. These insights have helped in better designing its products and making decisions which products could offer an EMI option for customers.”      

Design-centric products

A lot of innovation has gone in across categories and efforts have been made to address the gaps in design expectations. Many of the company’s products are also focusing on making them environmentally-friendly through packaging and lesser use of plastics and is also working with manufacturers and vendors in this direction.

The company has come up with unique designer storage boxes. It also has made efforts in bringing foldability and portability in furniture to suit places where space is a constraint.   

Nangia informed, “Chumbak as part of its strategic plan will be keen to enter into significant markets and segments where there is room for design and innovation. Bed linen and furniture have been launched recently. There is room to expand in the dining category as well as the beauty and wellness segment. Next year will see the addition of new stores.” 

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