Often on the move, youngsters in the city are keeping it simple by going online to rent furniture for their homes
When Diwakar Pelluri moved to Pune from Hyderabad around 11 months ago, he was very sure about one thing — he did not want to waste money buying furniture.
"I travel a lot and have been changing cities pretty frequently. It makes better sense for me to rent furniture, so when I move again, I wouldn't have to worry about transporting or selling them," said the 26-year-old IT professional, who rented all the furniture needed for a one bedroom-hall-kitchen from RentoMojo, a home furniture and appliances rental firm, at Rs 3,600 per month.
Twenty three-year-old Sayali Ahire from Nashik too decided it was way more hassle-free to simply rent a cupboard from JUSTonRENT for Rs 400 a month for her room in Pune instead of buying one and lugging it around. "I also paid an additional Rs 600 for to and fro shipping charges," she said.
These youngsters are part of a brigade who have made renting furniture online — in lieu of buying them — the latest trend in the city. And renting furniture works just like renting homes and flats. "You rent furniture by paying a monthly rent and return it once you no longer need it. Roughly, within Pune, around 30,000 to 50,000 people are currently renting furniture. This is still a low number, considering there are lakhs of people staying on rent, but that's primarily due to the fact that most are still unaware of the concept," said Rahul M, co-founder & CEO, JUSTonRENT.
Added Geetansh Bamania, CEO and co-founder, RentoMojo, "Maximum orders are from working professionals between the age group of 25 and 40 years. In Pune, we have an active subscriber base of more than 1,300, and we are looking at 40 to 45 per cent monthly growth in subscribers. The rental market size in India is currently estimated at $10 to 15 billion and is likely to grow to $25 to 30 billion by 2020."
TAKE YOUR PICK
Life as a young person these days is rather nomadic in nature, points out Bamania. While traditionally, people have been buying furniture or passing them on as heirlooms, the millennial generation moves frequently from city to city and prefer having access to stylish furniture without being tied down by it. And according to surveys, India has a total rental market size of 100 billion, of which around 90 per cent is disorganised and controlled by the neighbourhood carpenters and vendors. This is where these players are making a difference.
"More than owning a product, young people today want to experience it without having to spend a bomb," he said, adding that RentoMojo launched in Pune last October.
Agreed Mohan Karimpana, founder & CEO, Furlenco, which launched in Pune in April: "The basic idea is not to get tied down by your furniture. We have affordable premium furniture on rent, which makes setting up a home really easy. Apart from quick deliveries and free set-up, we also pair every unit of furniture with matching home decor and soft furnishing, allowing you to furnish your entire home in one click."
On offer are individual pieces of furniture as well as whole room sets. RentoMojo has furniture categorised as Lite, Value and Prime. "The Prime range of furniture contains contemporary designs with premium quality wood designed by our in-house furniture designer," said Bamania.
What's more, some like Furlenco, are adding to the experience like a 'reader's nook', which has a chic recliner paired with a reading lamp, bookshelf, dhurrie, cushion and a kindle subscription, tagged between Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,700, depending on add-ons. "Similarly we have other experiences like a bachelor's pad experience, a work from home, a chill zone, a chef's hat, among others," added Karimpana.
JUSTonRENT on the other hand is offering basic furniture and combo sets of simple furniture, like beds, steel cupboards, bean bags, study table and chairs along with home appliances. "A simple single bed at Rs 199 per month is far more desired by our customers than a fancy bed which might look good but will cost more," said Rahul, who started the organisation based on his and his friends' experience of living outside their home cities. "Getting good or even decent quality furniture on rent was next to impossible. We were forced to live out of our suitcases, sleep on a mattress on the floor as we could not afford to buy new bed or cupboard, or simply did not find it viable to purchase one due to the nature of our jobs," he added.
For Furnituredekho, it is about bringing furniture dealers — both for rent and sale — under one digital roof in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Noida, Gurgaon and Kolkata. "When a customer enquires for rental furniture, we try to understand their requirement and share the contacts of dealers near their location," explained Mamta Yadav, operations manager, Furnituredekho.
CLICK TO PAY
Going digital is of course what's helping these businesses win over their young clients. Designed on the lines of online shopping, all a customer needs to do is choose from individual or curated packages, add them to the cart, pay online and have them delivered. Some like RentoMojo are even accessible through android apps.
As far as prices go, users find it affordable. "The rents are very reasonable and it's way cheaper to rent than buy and sell again at a reduced price," said Pelluri. At JUSTonRENT, the price range starts from as low as Rs 149 per month for a coffee table to Rs 899 for a bedroom combo, which includes a king-sized double bed, a steel cupboard and a bean bag. Their extremely popular 'my room' combo includes a single bed, a steel cupboard and a bean bag for just Rs 699 per month.
Furnituredekho allows the client to compare and pick the best deals, as they feature products and prices from multiple dealers. For RentoMojo, individual pieces start from Rs 99 and curated packages from Rs 899 per month, while Furlenco has ranges starting from Rs 999.
DAMAGE DEAL
The players in this segment are also lending an edge to the game with added services. While Furlenco offers free furniture cleaning and relocation along with a damage waiver up to Rs 10,000, RentoMojo has free delivery and maintenance, barring repair due to physical damage to the products.
"We provide almost new furniture and appliances for rent. During delivery and set up, our representatives take pictures of the products and share them with the customer to avoid any ambiguity. We do not charge for normal wear and tear arising out of usage of the products," pointed out Bamania.
Added Karimpana: "All wear and tear are taken care of by us. And as the products are made of solid wood, unless somebody intentionally tries to damage it, the furniture will not get damaged apart from normal wear and tear." JUSTonRENT too requests their customers to use the furniture like they would if they owned it. "However, in case of damage, we deduct the same from the security deposit," shared Rahul.
"It all just adds to make setting up one's home a hassle-free experience," said Ahire. It sure is good news for those on the go.
Resource: http://www.punemirror.in/others/sunday-read/DECOR-ON-THE-GO/articleshow/52056925.cms
When Diwakar Pelluri moved to Pune from Hyderabad around 11 months ago, he was very sure about one thing — he did not want to waste money buying furniture.
"I travel a lot and have been changing cities pretty frequently. It makes better sense for me to rent furniture, so when I move again, I wouldn't have to worry about transporting or selling them," said the 26-year-old IT professional, who rented all the furniture needed for a one bedroom-hall-kitchen from RentoMojo, a home furniture and appliances rental firm, at Rs 3,600 per month.
Twenty three-year-old Sayali Ahire from Nashik too decided it was way more hassle-free to simply rent a cupboard from JUSTonRENT for Rs 400 a month for her room in Pune instead of buying one and lugging it around. "I also paid an additional Rs 600 for to and fro shipping charges," she said.
These youngsters are part of a brigade who have made renting furniture online — in lieu of buying them — the latest trend in the city. And renting furniture works just like renting homes and flats. "You rent furniture by paying a monthly rent and return it once you no longer need it. Roughly, within Pune, around 30,000 to 50,000 people are currently renting furniture. This is still a low number, considering there are lakhs of people staying on rent, but that's primarily due to the fact that most are still unaware of the concept," said Rahul M, co-founder & CEO, JUSTonRENT.
Added Geetansh Bamania, CEO and co-founder, RentoMojo, "Maximum orders are from working professionals between the age group of 25 and 40 years. In Pune, we have an active subscriber base of more than 1,300, and we are looking at 40 to 45 per cent monthly growth in subscribers. The rental market size in India is currently estimated at $10 to 15 billion and is likely to grow to $25 to 30 billion by 2020."
TAKE YOUR PICK
Life as a young person these days is rather nomadic in nature, points out Bamania. While traditionally, people have been buying furniture or passing them on as heirlooms, the millennial generation moves frequently from city to city and prefer having access to stylish furniture without being tied down by it. And according to surveys, India has a total rental market size of 100 billion, of which around 90 per cent is disorganised and controlled by the neighbourhood carpenters and vendors. This is where these players are making a difference.
"More than owning a product, young people today want to experience it without having to spend a bomb," he said, adding that RentoMojo launched in Pune last October.
Agreed Mohan Karimpana, founder & CEO, Furlenco, which launched in Pune in April: "The basic idea is not to get tied down by your furniture. We have affordable premium furniture on rent, which makes setting up a home really easy. Apart from quick deliveries and free set-up, we also pair every unit of furniture with matching home decor and soft furnishing, allowing you to furnish your entire home in one click."
On offer are individual pieces of furniture as well as whole room sets. RentoMojo has furniture categorised as Lite, Value and Prime. "The Prime range of furniture contains contemporary designs with premium quality wood designed by our in-house furniture designer," said Bamania.
What's more, some like Furlenco, are adding to the experience like a 'reader's nook', which has a chic recliner paired with a reading lamp, bookshelf, dhurrie, cushion and a kindle subscription, tagged between Rs 1,500 and Rs 1,700, depending on add-ons. "Similarly we have other experiences like a bachelor's pad experience, a work from home, a chill zone, a chef's hat, among others," added Karimpana.
JUSTonRENT on the other hand is offering basic furniture and combo sets of simple furniture, like beds, steel cupboards, bean bags, study table and chairs along with home appliances. "A simple single bed at Rs 199 per month is far more desired by our customers than a fancy bed which might look good but will cost more," said Rahul, who started the organisation based on his and his friends' experience of living outside their home cities. "Getting good or even decent quality furniture on rent was next to impossible. We were forced to live out of our suitcases, sleep on a mattress on the floor as we could not afford to buy new bed or cupboard, or simply did not find it viable to purchase one due to the nature of our jobs," he added.
For Furnituredekho, it is about bringing furniture dealers — both for rent and sale — under one digital roof in Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Bangalore, Noida, Gurgaon and Kolkata. "When a customer enquires for rental furniture, we try to understand their requirement and share the contacts of dealers near their location," explained Mamta Yadav, operations manager, Furnituredekho.
CLICK TO PAY
Going digital is of course what's helping these businesses win over their young clients. Designed on the lines of online shopping, all a customer needs to do is choose from individual or curated packages, add them to the cart, pay online and have them delivered. Some like RentoMojo are even accessible through android apps.
As far as prices go, users find it affordable. "The rents are very reasonable and it's way cheaper to rent than buy and sell again at a reduced price," said Pelluri. At JUSTonRENT, the price range starts from as low as Rs 149 per month for a coffee table to Rs 899 for a bedroom combo, which includes a king-sized double bed, a steel cupboard and a bean bag. Their extremely popular 'my room' combo includes a single bed, a steel cupboard and a bean bag for just Rs 699 per month.
Furnituredekho allows the client to compare and pick the best deals, as they feature products and prices from multiple dealers. For RentoMojo, individual pieces start from Rs 99 and curated packages from Rs 899 per month, while Furlenco has ranges starting from Rs 999.
DAMAGE DEAL
The players in this segment are also lending an edge to the game with added services. While Furlenco offers free furniture cleaning and relocation along with a damage waiver up to Rs 10,000, RentoMojo has free delivery and maintenance, barring repair due to physical damage to the products.
"We provide almost new furniture and appliances for rent. During delivery and set up, our representatives take pictures of the products and share them with the customer to avoid any ambiguity. We do not charge for normal wear and tear arising out of usage of the products," pointed out Bamania.
Added Karimpana: "All wear and tear are taken care of by us. And as the products are made of solid wood, unless somebody intentionally tries to damage it, the furniture will not get damaged apart from normal wear and tear." JUSTonRENT too requests their customers to use the furniture like they would if they owned it. "However, in case of damage, we deduct the same from the security deposit," shared Rahul.
"It all just adds to make setting up one's home a hassle-free experience," said Ahire. It sure is good news for those on the go.
Resource: http://www.punemirror.in/others/sunday-read/DECOR-ON-THE-GO/articleshow/52056925.cms
