Godrej Interio launches space-saving furniture range

Godrej Interio hopes to meet the demands of shrinking living spaces with the launch of its space-saving furniture range.

Branded ‘Transpose’, it marks the company’s foray into the category of space-saving or mutli-purpose furniture, priced at about 20 per cent of the market rates, said Anil Mathur, Chief Operating Officer, Godrej Interio.

The company is expecting ₹100 crore from the Transpose series next year, contributing 15 to 20 per cent to the annual revenue, he said.

“Transpose can be described as an ecosystem of transforming the room the way you want it, whether you want it as a bedroom, or a living room or any other space. The consumer can transform it using his/her own creativity and that is how the name ‘transpose’ was derived,” said Mathur.

The series offers a multi-purpose room that can conveniently transform to any form the customer wants, he added.

Product versatility

Transpose bestows on consumers options to have all the furniture they would want in a 10x10 room, without cramping up the space and “without compromising on functionality, usage and aesthetics,” complete with built-in safety features, Mathur explained.

The products will mark a detour from the conventional range of folding chairs and tables, sofa-beds and stacking chairs. The wooden cupboard embedded to the wall opens up to a bed that hides the sofa that was in its place, and the tables spring to different heights, fitting between a study table and dining tables, among other options.

“Growth of housing in the suburbs is higher compared to metro cities because of factors like better prices and bigger spaces. Currently, 50 per cent of the revenue of Godrej Interio comes from the suburbs and emerging markets. Suburbs are our next growth engine, especially in B2C,” Mathur said, about the series’ emphasis on suburbs.

The rapid expansion of such suburbs, and its increased concentration of middle income groups who are slightly more constrained on investment, as opposed to cities, are some other reasons cited by Mathur for the focus on suburbs.

“Housing sizes reduced by 20 to 25 per cent according to reports and the focus will be on suburbs,” he added. The first store has been launched in Thane. The company is also planning to launch Transpose products in other suburbs, as well as parts of Mumbai, along with Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata.

Market scope

Mathur felt that there is scope for several players to co-exist in the furniture industry as long as they realise it is the consumer who will decide “who has to exist and with what market share.”

“Only 20 per cent of the furniture market is organised. Like any emerging or developed market, the market is going to get consolidated and that is going to happen in India too. The furniture market will start showing consolidation based on the brands that are coming in,” he said.

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