The Hindu Business Line : High on home and hearth

The home décor market has grown at 35 per cent annually for the last five years, capitalising on Indian consumers’ newfound tendency to do up their homes better than ever..

Though home furnishing is seen more as a ‘necessity’ than indulgence, the trend is changing with brands catering to the lifestyle trend of global consumers.

G.R.N. Somashekhar

Home décor, a new preoccupation with the upwardly mobile. Seen above is Nicora’s recently launched store in Bangalore.

Anjali Prayag

It’s the home front that’s looking up. Of late, Indians are becoming house-proud, and the Rs 10,000-crore home furnishing market is riding high on this sentiment, achieving a growth of 35 per cent per annum for the last five years.

Average family spends on home décor have doubled in the last five years and on an average the target audience (family) visiting the @home chain of stores, promoted by Nilkamal Plastics, spend Rs 25, 000 per annum in four visits on a yearly basis, says Sandra Daniels, General Manager (Marketing), @home.

Today, people are going beyond architectural catalogues or home décor guides to design their homes. They prefer options that let them experiment and express their individual tastes and lifestyles, says Chotti Barua, Managing Director, Nicora Interiors Pvt Ltd. Blind Love, one of Bangalore’s premium window blinds boutiques, launched its first signature store under the new brand name, Nicora, few months ago.

Mandeep Wadhwa, Managing Director of Seasons, a premium home furnishing brand, observes that in the last 2-3 years, families often changed the look of their homes. Attributing this to globalisation, rising per capita income and increasing lifestyle spends, he sees that Indian consumers today are more aware about brands and home furnishings than ever before.

A family buys home products at least twice a year, according to Suchendra Hanchate, Director (Marketing & Retail Support Services) of Rosebys London, a UK-based home interior retailer that launched its chain of stores in the country in October this year. “Their spends vary depending on the products they wish to buy and the quantum they buy. A lot of it is also purchased for gifting and on impulse. However, the buying quantum is growing.”

As in personal fashion, Indian consumers in this category too are aware of international trends in home decor. For instance, last year, the floral theme was in fashion and so the demand for floral prints in sheers, curtains and other upholstery went up, says Wadhwa. This year, the vintage look is in. The colour scheme of the houses will see a considerable change accordingly, he says. But it’s also true that a majority of Indians are still conservative and do not abide by the concept of a ‘total’ change in the looks of their homes. Often, the changes they make are very basic and sometimes only restricted to a room, especially the living room.

The country’s home furnishing market, second only to China, largely comprises unorganised players and has only about 20 well-known brands in the segment accounting for about six per cent market share. The product range consists of bed and bath linen, upholstery fabrics, sheers, cushion covers, rugs, blinds and wallpapers with some brands such as Rosebys and Seasons offering international brands. While traditional brands such as Bombay Dyeing catered to the 40-plus years customer segment, Portico was created to appeal to the younger homemakers, says Raakesh Bhargava, President and CEO, Creative Portico.

The market now has players criss-crossing all price segments. For instance, Maspar, Seasons and Atmosphere are in the premium tag segment, but retailers such as Pantaloons see better business sense being in the value segment. “The market has been good this year and we are hoping to double our turnover to Rs 300 crore by the end of 2008-09,” says Videesha Bagree, Category Head (Home Fashion) at Home Town, a Pantaloon Retail venture. Pantaloon Retail sells home furnishing products in the ‘made-up categories’ across more than 150 outlets including Big Bazaars. “Apart from stocking brands such as Portico and Bombay Dyeing, we have our private brand Dreamline that cuts across both value and lifestyle segments.” Realising that pricing does play a strategic role in the home decoration business, Pantaloon Retail has products starting from Rs 199 with the Dreamline range going up to Rs 999. Nilkamal’s @home too is targeting the mid-segment to premium segment with its moderate pricing strategy that includes bed sheets from Rs 600 to Rs 3,000, comforters from Rs 1,500 to Rs 5,000, towels from Rs 200 to Rs 2,000 and ready-to-use curtains from Rs. 300 to Rs 2000.

At Seasons, a store that has positioned itself as a premium brand, prices start from Rs 400, going up to Rs 6,000 per metre for fabrics, Rs 400 to Rs 1,450 for sheers, Rs 8,300 to Rs 40,000 per piece in the rugs category, cushion covers for Rs 500 to Rs 1,850 per piece and Rs 2,000 to Rs 80,000 for accessories. Wallpapers are priced between Rs 90 and Rs 850 per sq. ft. The international range of branded fabrics is priced between Rs 2,000 and Rs 15,000 per metre.

Portico, which had restricted itself to the upper and upper-mid segments launched Home Expressions for the mass market two years ago. Now the company has products priced between Rs 499 and Rs 10,000. Barua says Nicora has blinds to suit everybody’s budget, with prices starting at Rs 140 per sq ft. But a large house with space of 5,000-7,000 sq ft could cost up to Rs 2 lakh.

Though home furnishing is seen more as a ‘necessity’ than indulgence, the trend is changing with brands such as Seasons catering to the lifestyle trend of global consumers and upgrading its infrastructure to be able to produce designs and eco-friendly products. The retailer also offers services such as in-house fabrication and on-call, which is giving it an edge over the industry.

“We want to increase our access points and are consciously targeting the Tier II towns that have potential to spend and a taste towards good living.” This expansion would be through the shop-in-shop format. The company also plans to work with design studios in the US to give its customers a more enhanced experience by providing them more finished products such as beddings, cushions and so on in a coordinated way.

Rosebys, on the other hand, is positioning itself as a mass premium brand. “Our brand building challenges will be to develop a sustained interaction and loyalty with our consumer so that she repeatedly visits Rosebys and unhesitatingly pays a premium for everyday living.” “For this we are building a lifestyle brand for which she has pride of association and is proud to interact far beyond rational and emotional benefits.” The store plans to achieve this by offering products in a theme based co-ordinated approach to give customers a heightened shopping experience for everyday living.

With the coordinated look catching up across all price categories, retailers in this segment are cashing in on the trend and are keeping their designers busy to work on co-ordinates.

@home’s Daniels says this is the new trend as the market and customers are evolving and becoming more particular about the look and theme of their homes. Home Town’s Bagree agrees that the trend is catching up, but there are women who want to experiment and want to personalise their interiors. Hanchate of Rosebys says now is the opportunity to offer the Indian woman a philosophy that makes her look at herself differently in the category context – not just as a homemaker, but as a creator of ‘everyday living aspirations.’

Reporter associate: Anjana Chandramouly

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