By the end of 2024, the furniture business in India will probably reach $61 million, making it as solid as the wood business idea. The key driving forces of the furniture business in India are high living standards, increasing need for infrastructure, rise in commercial buildings (such as hotels, parks, resorts, etc), and demands for a variety of furniture styles.

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The various features, such as cost minimisation, supply chain management, brand management, and customization, of the Indian furniture industry define it. Surprisingly, despite being a strong business option, the steps to start a furniture business is comparatively easier than starting most other businesses. Still, you need a guide beside you to help you in every situation. Be it planning the business or taking licences, you need strong guidance. This article might work as your guide to selling furniture online.

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Why Sell Furniture Online

Let us keep it clear. You can sell furniture offline too, so why go for an e-model? The answer is in the benefits of having an online business. Here are some of them.

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Low Start-up Cost

One of the significant benefits that an online business offers you is the low start-up cost. Let us understand how. For instance, if you are thinking of setting up a bakery business. You have two options: prepare baked products at home and sell them online or set up a cafe and sell your bakery products there. In the first option, you will need only ingredients and utensils for baking.

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Your extra costs will include internet cost, electricity cost of the oven and mixers, packaging cost, transportation cost, labour cost, rent and other variable costs. These expenses would take your start-up cost to the cloud. On the other hand, you would be able to begin an online store at a minimum cost. After some time, you might think of a hybrid business model.

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Lowers Your Marketing Cost

Opening an online model also lowers your marketing cost. You might think that promoting an offline business in an online mode also lowers your cost, which is true. However, promoting an online business through a digital platform is more cost-effective. How? Well, let us continue the example of the bakery business. Imagine you have opened a bakery outlet in Delhi.

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You come out with a website to promote that business. But before that, you will need to do some local advertising to grab minimum attention to your outlet. You might print posters, use billboards in the locality, approach local newspapers, etc. All this will cost you a good sum of money. If you only depend on the website for advertising, it would fail to grab the attention of the target audience, locals.

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On the other hand, with an online business, your target audience would be PAN India. You can use SEO techniques and suitable keywords to attract organic traffic to your site. Andrew Legrand, a part of SperaLawGroup, mentions, “advantage of doing business online is the business's ability to target its audience with online advertising and converting that audience into paying customers. This means that marketing efforts can be more efficient with regards to time and money, and the business's customer base is expanded beyond the local audience.”

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Enjoy Your Vacations

Most people think that owning a business means you are your boss. Thus, they can do whatever and whenever they want. Unfortunately, the truth is completely the opposite. Businessmen fail to go on any trip because someone has to be there in their store. They do not have that flexibility. But with online stores, you can get back that flexibility. You can run your store and manage things even when you are on a vacation.

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So, with the online model, your business will be there for your consumer 24*7 even when you are enjoying your day. Brady Keller from Atlantic.Net mentions, “[the] benefit of an online store is that you can operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Since your retail store is virtual, you can potentially be making money while you sleep.”

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Reach to Global Business

The concept of globalisation came in 1991. However, after the internet took over every device, people realised the power of globalisation. Now a person sitting in Uttam Nagar of West Delhi might sell a product in the Michigan state of America.

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With online business, you can reach a wide customer base. It will also help you reach your target audience, even if they are not based in your locality. Most online business owners witness more outside consumers than locals.

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Faster Transaction and Easy Tracking

One of the most interesting and underrated features of online models is faster transaction and easy tracking. You do not have to keep a record of transactions. The computer will do it. Moreover, cash payments bring confusion and are time taking. Digital transactions work smoothly and you will never fail to keep records. So, these are benefits to start a furniture business online.

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If you are willing to open an offline model, you can opt to register your business on trustable online platforms, such as Fynd Platforms. They ensure that your business reaches a wide customer base and you witness maximum sales. Now you know the perks of starting an online furniture business. But the question is how? How will you plan the business? Well, the next section might help you.

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Furniture Business Plan

There are two aspects of a furniture business plan. They are:

• When you are manufacturing furniture and selling it online.
• When you source furniture and only sell it online.

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The first aspect will be discussed thoroughly further in the article. Now, you will learn only about sourcing furniture and selling it online. In 2016, the international trade of furniture was valued at US $129 billion. In 2018, the revenue of only the USA furniture market reached $116 billion. Selling furniture through an online medium could give you a quick stand in this competitive furniture world. However, you need proper planning for it. Here is a step-by-step furniture business plan.

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1. Come up with a Niche

The first step involves deciding your niche. There is a list of furniture that you can sell. You have to decide your specialisation, such as office furniture, house furniture, restaurant furniture, school furniture, etc. Next, you need to perform market research for your niche. For instance, you need to sell house furniture. So, you might hire researchers to analyse your target audience, their particular demands for furniture, and the price they prefer to spend on furniture.

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If you cannot afford a researcher, you can organise secondary research through the information available on the internet. Make sure the sites are reliable. Once you are done researching these aspects, shift to competitive analysis. In this research, you need to find out the features of furniture your competitor offers in your niche, the price they offer it at, and their USP.

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Once you know these things, you can come up with your USP. It will also help you to confirm that the niche you have selected is suitable. You should also focus on the geographical location you are willing to cater to, locally or PAN Indian.

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Keeping your niche as the context, come up with a logo, business name, and slogan for your business. Here are some tips for it.

• Your business name should contain a hint of your product.
• Keep the slogan short and crisp. Also, it should contain the essence of values you want to offer your consumer.
• Keep the logo simple, creative, and innovative. You might hire a graphic designer for that.

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Once you have done all these things, begin working on the catalogue that contains the images of all your products and pricing details.

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2. Choose a Selling Platform

Once you know your niche, the question comes to where to sell it? There are several places where you can sell your furniture. You might make a website and sell furniture there or you can register to an online marketplace and enlist your furniture for sale. Now the question is which one among the two options you should go for. While it widely depends on your convenience and requirements, here is the list of pros and cons of both models.

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About an Online Marketplace

An online Marketplace could be considered the online Sarojini Nagar or CP.market. There are a lot of shops there. You can visit the place and purchase whatever you want. It is best for people who are not ready to invest time and effort in working on their site. Also, if you think that self-promotion is not an option for you currently, you might look for an online marketplace.

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If you are worried about the cost, here is a hint of how much an online marketplace might cost you. Most online marketplaces charge according to your sales, meaning they would take a certain percentage of each sale you make.

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For instance, Facebook marketplace, Etsy, and eBay charge 5% per shipment, 5% of each sale, and 10% of each sale respectively. Besides, the online marketplace also has some minimum listing fees and payment processing fees.

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About eCommerce Website Builders

E-commerce website builders are for people who want to build their websites. They are user-friendly to ensure that a person with little to no knowledge of tech could easily set up a website. Ecommerce is particularly beneficial for people who do not want restrictions on customisation and want to sell products on their terms and conditions. Also, if you have the skills to create a website that looks attractive and is SEO friendly, you should go for a website builder.

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The cost of a website builder differs on the package you take. Most builders charge every month and offer multiple packages. If you want to build a site for your furniture business, you can begin with the most basic plan.

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It should not cost you much. For instance, Wix eCommerce, Square Online Costs, and BigCommerce charge $23 ( no transaction fee), $12 ( with 0.5-2% transaction fee), and $29.95 ( no transaction fee) respectively per month.

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While Wix is best for beginners, Square Online is better for marketing features and sales, and BigCommerce is best for scalability. So, you can opt for these options while choosing a selling platform and starting a furniture business online.

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After these two steps, focus on the marketing of your business. Another thing you need to plan is sourcing your materials. You need to have a good relationship with your wholesaler to ensure the smooth growth of your business.

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Make sure you plan all this before beginning the business. Now let us again jump to the first step of planning a furniture business, which is deciding your niche. The next section will help you know the places where the furniture is in demand.

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Use of Furniture

Furniture is in demand at various places. Here is a list of some of those places and the type of furniture required there.

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Home Furniture

Every house, big or small, requires some furniture. There could be basic furniture, such as chairs or tables or complicated ones such as a sofa that opens into a bed. So, here is a list of home furniture you might sell.

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Living Room Furniture

Let us begin with the highlight of every house, the living area. The area requires everything best. This is the place where most family gatherings happen/ This is the place that gives the first impression and most guests only end up seeing the living area.

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So, the area is the centre of attraction. It should look beautiful, attractive, and comfortable. Here are some furniture types you might keep in your living room.

• Sectionals: Leather or fabric

• Sofas: Leather or fabric

• Sleeper sofas: Leather or fabric

• Chaises

• Recliners: Leather or fabric

• Chair Ottomans: Leather or fabric

• Swivels and Gliders: Leather or fabric

• Loveseats: Leather or fabric

• Accent Chairs: Leather or fabric

• Loveseats: Leather or fabric

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Other than these, you might also keep a cabinet to keep the TV, types of tables, and showpiece almirahs. So, here is some more living room furniture.

• End tables

• Accent tables

• Credenzas and consoles

• Bookcases and open shelving

• Benches

• Accent chests

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You can keep all these options for your consumers.

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Dining Room Furniture

Now after the living area, the dining area is the second most significant place in the house that attracts an audience. Your consumers might be very reluctant about your dining area because that is the place most guests spend maximum time.

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Also, most guests get enough time to stare and analyse every part of the dining area because they eat there only. So, here is a list of dining room furniture you should keep to satisfy your consumers.

• Dining tables: Rectangular, Round, and Square

• Side chair: Wood and upholstered

• Sideboards

• Bar and counter stools

• Armchairs: Upholstered

• Console tables

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Other than this, you might also give the option to customise furniture for the dining space.

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Bedroom Furniture

This is the place where consumers can keep furniture with a lot of creativity. Most people do not visit this place. It is a private area that couples usually arrange according to their choices and preferences.

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As a seller, you should keep a lot of customisation options in bedroom furniture. Here is a list of some standard bedroom furniture.

• Headboards

• Beds: upholstered and wood

• Nightstands

• Mirrors

• Chests and almirahs

• Dressers

• Mattresses

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Make sure you have all this furniture in your store, so no customer goes disappointed.

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Hospital Furniture

Another place with huge furniture demand is the hospitals. You can supply furniture to these hospitals. Here are some types of furniture found in hospitals

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Hospital Chairs

The most basic piece of furniture you will find in a hospital is a chair. A hospital requires several different types of chairs. Here are some of them.

• Patient chair

• Wheelchair

• Life chair

• Dental chair

• Dialysis chair

• Stair chair

• Recliner chair

• Gynaecologist chair

• Shower chair

• Stretcher chair

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All these chairs serve different purposes. Thus, your store should have all these types of chairs if you specialise in hospital furniture.

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Hospital Tables

Like chairs, tables are also commonly found in hospitals. Here is a list of types of tables you can keep.

• Delivery table

• Overbed table

• Operational table

• Bedside table - H - shaped and U- shaped

• Examination table

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This is the list of tables a hospital requires.

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Hospital Beds

Hospitals require durable and long-lasting beds. Here are different types of hospital beds you can keep in your store.

• Paediatric bed

• Electric beds

• Ward plain bed

• CU bed

• Semi fowler bed

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Make sure the beds in your store are manufactured with high-quality materials to provide support and comfort to the patients. Also, the beds should offer various features, such as flexible side railings, corrosion-free, adjustable backrest, position changing using buttons, intact, etc.

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Hospital Trolley

Trolleys are for all the mobility in the hospitals, mobility of equipment and other hospital supplies. Here are the types of hospital trolleys.

• Food trolleys

• Monitor and dress trolleys

• Mayo’s trolleys

• Stretcher trolleys

• Emergency casualty trolleys

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So, these are the hospital furniture you might keep in your store. While purchasing hospital furniture, consumers look for comfortable, User friendly, and durable products. So, make sure your furniture offers these features.

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Restaurants and Hotels

Another big furniture market is restaurants and hotels. Here is the list of hotel furniture you can keep in your store.

• Restaurant chairs

• Restaurant tables

• High tables

• Monoblock canteen tables

• Barstools

• Restaurant booths

• Wine storage

• Bar counters

• Beverage dispensers

• Professional wine coolers

• Serving trolleys

• Restaurant Dumbwaiters

• Professional cooking wares

• Professional cookers

• Professional refrigeration

• Professional cooker hoods

• Sanitising totems

• Professional food reparation

• Anti-contagion protective barriers

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You can keep some of these products as hotel furniture in your store. Among all these, you might think that a significant place is missing. Well, you are right. You will learn about this place in the next section.

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List Out the Furniture Used in a Business Office

Furniture is what makes an office. Therefore, when you start a furniture business online or offline, you should take care of an office furniture range. Here are some of the popular furniture found in almost every office.

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Office Desks

There are several types of office desks present in an office, each with a different function. For instance, an operator's desk will offer different features from the executive or corner standing desks. Also, these benches should look different.

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This means you need to keep various types of desks. Here are some of the popular desks found in the office.

• Managerial Desks

• Executive Desks

• Writing Desks

• Height-adjustable Desks

• Writing Desks

• Computer Desks

• Floating Desks

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These were the desks commonly found in the office. You might also keep the option to customise desks according to the needs of a particular office.

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Office Chairs

Other than desks, you will also find chairs in every office. Here is a list of office chairs you should keep in your store.

• Ergonomic chair

• Task chair

• Executive chair

• Conference chair

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Make sure the chairs you offer are good for posture and give comfort. So, this was the list of basic office furniture. Besides these, you might keep some bookcases and storage cabinets in your office furniture range. But now the question is: will keeping all these ranges benefit you? Is it worth it to spend time, money, and effort on the furniture business? The next sections answer this.

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Is the Furniture Business Profitable in India

In 2015, The Economics Times published an article titled, ‘Flipkart identifies 3 new high-margin revenue streams - online advertising, brand consulting, furniture.’

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The title itself gives a hint of the profits the furniture business could offer you. Furniture-making business makes up 0.5% of India’s GDP. Moreover, its 85% unorganised sector is the major contributor to the GDP. While the demand for furniture was always high, it is after the real estate business that the furniture-making business became highly profitable. With more housing needs to cater for the growing population, the furniture business is also witnessing huge growth.

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Moreover, the love for aesthetic furniture of millennials and baby boomers also acts as a driving force for the furniture business. Some furniture-making ideas offer more profit than others. Here is a list of some of those most profitable furniture business ideas.

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Bamboo Artisan Furniture

Bamboo furniture is particularly popular as a decorative item. They are known for their beauty and lightweight. This involves weaving bamboo slivers to make attractive products, such as tables, chairs, sofa sets, ranking chairs, etc.

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Leather Furniture

This comes under luxury lifestyle products. Thus, it gives a high-profit margin to sellers. In homes, you can generally find this leather furniture in the dining room and living rooms. However, offices are the largest consumers of leather furniture. Another factor to consider while thinking of keeping leather furniture is the investment. Think about keeping this furniture only when you have substantial capital investment.

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Plastic Furniture

A wide range of the population prefers plastic furniture over other materials. A major reason behind it is the features and compatibility this furniture offer over wood and metal furniture. Plastic furniture is easy to maintain, economical, durable, lightweight, etc. Moreover, many people think of it as an option to promote recycling and save forests by not using wooden furniture.

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Rubber Wood Furnitures

Many manufacturers globally use rubber to produce furniture that is affordable yet attractive. Besides durability and beauty, there are several other benefits of rubber wood furniture. One of the major reasons behind its benefits is its grain character which is comparatively denser than most other types of wood. This makes rubber wood furniture more stylish and preferable among millennials. As a manufacturer, you might begin rubberwood furniture manufacturing on a small scale.

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Steel Furniture

If you want a furniture business that stays in demand throughout the year, the steel business is the answer. It is a lucrative business. Moreover, you can begin this business with a small investment in simple machines and raw materials.

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You might also begin its manufacturing at home. The main types of furniture to focus on in this genre are steel cupboards, chairs, and almirahs. This furniture is in high demand in commercial, household, and industrial activities.

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Wooden Furniture

The traditional furniture market of India is wooden furniture. Based on the strength of wood and its density, there are two primary types of wood: hardwood and softwood. Wood is a part of a wide range of furniture manufacturing. Different types of wood used for furniture manufacturing are Sissoo wood, Pinewood, Teak wood, Satinwood, Mahogany wood, Mulberry wood, Sal wood, and Rosewood. Like steel furniture, you can set up a wooden furniture manufacturing unit at home.

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Wrought Iron Furniture

Don't think wrought iron furniture and iron furniture are the same. They differ significantly. Wrought iron is a specific iron alloy that contains a very low amount of carbon content as compared to cast iron. The business is highly profitable and is very popular among home decor items. So, these were some furniture ideas that could boost your furniture business.

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Moreover, to ensure a good profit in this business, think of an online furniture store rather than only an offline one. You can also register your offline furniture business on online platforms, such as Fynd Platform. These platforms are highly useful to take your business to great heights.

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Furniture Business Profit Margin in India

Besides fashion and electronics, furniture has emerged as one of the largest categories among high-margin products in the online retailing market. The head of the marketplace in Flipkart, Ankit Nagori mentions, "We will have an added focus on furniture category on our commerce platform, which we look to build ground-up."

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Like Flipkart, many marketplaces are focusing on furniture because of the high margin it has begun offering to the sellers. While there is no fixed profit margin, an article by The Economic Times mentions the furniture category has the potential to offer a profit margin ranging from 40-60%.

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How to Start a Furniture Manufacturing Business in India

Till now the focus was only on selling furniture. Now, you will learn how to begin a furniture manufacturing business in India. With changing demands of customers, manufacturing furniture has become a significant part of the furniture. Most consumers look for customised products to cater for their particular needs. So, if you love creating art pieces more than only selling them, you should go for a furniture manufacturing business. Here is a guide to help you set up a furniture manufacturing business.

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1. Research the Market

Although there is undoubtedly a rise in the Indian furniture market, you should research the market yourself. Instead of focusing on the market of entire India, you should particularly focus on the local market.

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This will give you a good hint of the ways to start a furniture business online and scale it. Also, keep in mind that consumer demographic changes from time to time and place to place. So, make sure you organise market research just before beginning a business.

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2. Identify Your Target Audience

Whenever you begin something, you need a target. If there is no target, you will end up taking blind shots without any definite result. It might hit the fish's eyes or might just go in vain. Similarly, before beginning a furniture manufacturing business, make sure you know your target audience. Knowing and understanding your target audience will help you make a stable business plan. It will also help you to know your initial marketing strategy and further changes that could be made after evaluation.

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Here is a list of target audiences for this business.

• Houses, particularly the middle-class and upper-class urban population with aim to live a high-end lifestyle. This population love to experiment with furniture types, such as kitchen room furniture, cabinets, fireplaces, dressers, etc.

• Restaurants are another target audience for furniture businesses. Different restaurants require different styles of chairs and tables to create a unique ambience for their target audience. So, as a furniture manufacturer, you can make big restaurant chains for your clients.

• The emerging trend of cafes could significantly benefit the furniture businesses. Millennials and baby boomers look for aesthetic and gram-worthy pictures which demand a rustic and vintage vibe they often look for in cafes. The furniture arrangement in the cafes contributes to this vibe.

• Educational Institutions also serve as a major target audience for the furniture business. They require multiple pieces of furniture, such as desks, benches, etc.

• Shopping malls also require various styles and types of furniture that could attract customers to the stores. The ambience of a mall or a store in it highly affects the number of people purchasing from there.

• Retail houses are also a target audience for the furniture market. They require furniture of a particular size, colour, wood, pattern, style, and needs.

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You might focus on these clients. But it is significant to research your market and come up with a target audience that has not been served with the types of furniture that you produce. A significant hint that the target audience gives us about the furniture business is that it is a B2B market segment, where a business sells products mainly to another business. So your marketing strategy should be according to B2B sales.

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3. Recognise Your Potential

A significant part of manufacturing furniture is knowing your potential. Are you good at making chairs? Or are you good at making beds? Is hardwood your strength? Or do you embrace Engineered wood more? Here is a list of questions you should ask yourself to know your potential.

• What features are you willing to offer?

• Will you manufacture home decor or corporate-style furniture?

• Do you want to manufacture for a particular segment of customers or all?

• How will your furniture look?

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These are some of the things you should answer and decide your potential. To help you out, here is a list of different types of furniture based on wood type, style, and use of furniture.

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Once you know your potential you can decide the various aspect of your business, such as the parts to focus on the most, your exact target audience, investment requirement, etc.

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4. Determine Your Investment

It is significant to determine your investment. Some of the primary fields of investment in the furniture business are manpower, machinery, and raw materials. If you are thinking of starting a business on a small scale, these investments would not be high. However, to set up a large-scale manufacturing unit to start selling furniture online, you need to be prepared to invest a heavy amount in all these sectors. Here is a list of requirements for the furniture manufacturing business.

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Raw Materials

• Plastic and Vinyl

• Metal, steel, and alloys

• Packing material

• Fasteners

• Woods of different varieties

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The investment requirements for raw materials vary extremely on the quality of material, location of purchase, and transportation cost.

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Machinery Requirements

• Double-end tenoner: slide chain system and rolling chain system

• Stationery machines: wood lathe, wood shaper, bandsaw, timber sizer, drill press, thickness planer, and reminding machine

• Panel automatic packing machine

• Panel edge processing equipment: light-duty edgebander, high speed, and heavy-duty

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The investment in machines depends on your choices. If you want a small manufacturing unit, you do not need to spend a lot on machines. However, big manufacturing units will require heavy investment in machines.

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Manpower Required

• 5- semi-skilled workers

• 10- unskilled workers

• 5- skilled workers

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This is a manpower requirement for a medium-scale furniture manufacturing business. However, the investment in it highly depends on the location of your manufacturing unit. In some places, labour cost is comparatively lower than in other places. Other than these, you might need to spend a good amount on land for your manufacturing unit.

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Overall, your investment might range between Rs. 10 lakhs to 15 lakhs. Now, when you have estimated your investment requirements, you can decide the scale of your manufacturing unit.

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5. Take Licences and Permits

You cannot begin manufacturing furniture for commercial use without proper licences and permits. Some of the required licences and permits are:

• GST papers

• MSME registrations

• Factory laws

• Trade licence

• NDAs

• NOC by state pollution control board

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Other than these, you should also make your business insured. It is better to take legal guidance to ensure you do not miss any legal aspect of the business. Also, take your patents, trademarks, and copyrights before entering the market. This will save you from any dirty exploitation.

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6. Hire Your Workforce

While beginning a manufacturing unit, you cannot do it all by yourself. You need a workforce to help you with every work. Your responsibility should be to guide or manage everyone.

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You need to turn your hard work into smart work. To do that, you will need a workforce. Also, make sure you have a skilled workforce. You might also provide training to your workforce in terms of equipment handling, machinery usage, and safety precautions.

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7. Source Your Raw Material

If you are thinking to start a furniture business online without manufacturing it, you need to source manufactured furniture. Similarly to start a furniture manufacturing business, you need to source raw materials.

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Try to get the raw material from a location that offers quality material at cheap rates. However, make sure the location is not too far from your manufacturing unit. Otherwise, you might end up spending a lot of money on transportation.

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Once you have clarity of all the raw materials required, you can plan your storage area and sourcing costs. After all these, you might begin manufacturing furniture. Once you begin the manufacturing unit, you can enlist your products online through platforms, such as Fynd Platform, to serve a wide range of customers.

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Steps to Sell Online

At this stage, you know your target audience and niche. You know whether you want to source raw furniture or manufacture them in your unit. So, now it is time to sell this furniture online.

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Here are the steps to do so.

1. Find a Trustworthy Vendor

This step is significant for those who want to source manufactured furniture. The consumers of the present times are more conscious than ever of the quality of the product they are purchasing.

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So, you need to find a vendor who could offer you furniture of good quality, low-cost and unique craftsmanship. Some ways to research this are:

• Keep a check on the share market of different furniture items.

• Get samples from different vendors before booking them.

• Stay Updated with the ongoing trends in the furniture market. You might also consult a furniture designer for this.

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With these tips, you can find a trustworthy vendor. Other than vendors, you can also source some of your inventory from various locations. Here is a list of places you might check to buy your inventory.

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Auctions

The best place to find a good collection of collectable furniture with a vintage vibe is through auctions. You can join social media groups that update you about the local auctions around your area. You might also approach various auction sites where you can browse and bid on your favourite furniture on your own time.

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Outdoor markets/ Flea

For furniture sellers, outdoor markets or fleas could carry diamonds. Make sure you arrive the earliest to pick up the best collection of furniture.

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Collectors

Some private collectors might be interested in selling their collections. However, their price is comparatively more and you might end up paying more initially. Gradually, after you build a strong impression or reputation in the market, these collectors might contact you and then you can expect moderate prices. So, this was the first step. Once you know your vendor, make a contract with them and begin working on the second step.

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2. Set up the Online Store

While preparing your business plan, you had the option to choose between an e-commerce website or an online marketplace. Whatever you choose, you need to set up your online store wisely. Look for a platform that offers you a wide range of customisation features and also many pre-built themes. Here are tips to create an attractive online furniture store.

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3. An -eye Catching Brand

Your brand will sell your product. If people find your brand name, brand logo, and brand motto attractive, they will purchase from you. So, make sure you have an attractive and unique identity. Also, do not try to change your brand frequently. Keep it consistent. If you have always kept durability as the USP of your furniture, give that to your consumers in all your products.

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4. High-quality Pictures

If you are registering yourself on an online marketplace, your consumers will have a lot of options to purchase furniture. So, why would they visit your store? Why would they click on your furniture? The answer is in the high-qualities photo. Your photos will give consumers a hint of what they should expect from the furniture. So, make sure your photos are of superior quality. You will learn more about it in the next section.

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5. Irresistible Product Description

Once the consumer visits your store, they would look for the product description. Nowadays, consumers are very reluctant about the description given about a product. They read every sentence carefully and decide whether they want to make a purchase or not.

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Your description should be creative and crisp. It should include all the useful information, such as the material used to make furniture, why a particular piece of furniture is special/unique, and how they differ from the furniture sold on other sites. Once your online store is ready, it is time to upload pictures on it.

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6. Take Quality Images

By looking at the photos on your site, your consumers get a hint of how a particular piece of furniture will look at their house. Clear photos help consumers understand the things mentioned in the description.

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Here are tips to help you get irresistible furniture photos.

Have Proper Lighting

Try to click photographs where there is plenty of natural light. In case, your location does not have access to natural light. Use a lighting kit to click good-quality images.

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Try to Present a Story

People love pictures that present a story. A picture of a sofa looks nice but a consumer will love to see a picture of a sofa where a father is reciting a story to his son or feeding his daughter.

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These pictures intimidate the audience comparatively more. Your photographs should show the target audience of your product. It could highlight how people can keep that furniture in their home and how the furniture enhances the look of their house.

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It is best to click pictures of furniture in a natural space, that is the place where it is most common to find. For instance, if you want to sell a park bench, it should be clicked in a park only.

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Try to Click 3D Photos

If possible, upload 3D pictures. Some online sites allow you to upload 3D pictures. These pictures attract consumers more as they get a real look at the furniture.

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Keep Some Close-ups

With some whole pictures, also keep some close-up pictures. These pictures help consumers to understand the quality of the product and other details. Try to capture the essence of its texture and other details, such as the metalwork of a bed frame.

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Including these qualities in your picture increases the purchasing possibilities. Also, make sure to mention the scale to give a hint of the furniture size to your consumer. Once you set up your store, it is time to market your business. The next section mentions some marketing strategies for a furniture business.

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Marketing Strategy for the Furniture Business

Your marketing strategy will differ for online and offline stores. Here you will learn the marketing strategy for an online furniture business.

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Share Your Testimonials

Your social media platform should be full of testimonials from consumers. Your site should include the option to give feedback where consumers can give and check customer reviews. In online mediums, people hesitate to buy products that do not contain customer reviews. You might reach your previous customers and request them to put reviews on the site.

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Offer Coupons and Discounts

By opening an online store, you can save a lot by not spending on land, electricity, etc. You can use these savings to offer discount coupons to your consumers. A key reason people choose online mode is because of the prices they get. So, make sure you offer consumers good discount coupons. It will increase your sales and customer return rate.

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Email Marketing

A traditional yet effective tool to promote your business is email marketing. Send emails to your consumers regarding your latest deals or something about your brand that consumers should know. Email marketing keeps your consumers engaged with your brand even when they are not purchasing from you. However, make sure you do not begin spamming your consumers.

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Content Marketing

The content on your store or site should be engaging. It should include useful keywords that could bring traffic to your site. Also, you should carefully decide the content that goes to your social media platform. You might hire a professional content writer. These professionals will ensure that your site and posts get views.

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So, these are some tips you might follow to promote your business and increase your revenue online. For offline stores, the tactics will slightly change with the use of newspaper advertisements and billboards.  

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Furniture Market

Furniture is a very diverse market and requires a deep understanding. Here is a look through the furniture market.  

• Based on region, there are four regions in India. They are East India, North India, South India, and West India.

• According to market predictions, the wood segment might hold a significant market share among other materials. The key reason behind this is the love of people for the aesthetic visual appeal wood furniture offer.

• The EMR group predicts the growth of the Indian furniture market at a CAGR of 6.70% between 2021-2017. In 2021, the value of the market was around 13.4 billion INR. The credit for market growth goes to rapid urbanisation.

• The report by EMR also provides an exclusive analysis of the industry based on SWOT analysis and Porter’s five forces model. Here is a summary of the report
  

These are some things that you should know before you start a furniture business online. Now, you also need to know your potential competitors.

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Furniture Manufacturers

Here is a list of some popular furniture manufacturers in India and some details about them.

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Hevea Furniture & Interiors Pvt Ltd

Founded in 2005, Havea Furnitures began its journey as an exporter and manufacturer of wooden furniture. This Chennai-based company is a subsidiary of the JFA group, founded in 1986.

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Its factory is also located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It offers a range of products, such as Panel furniture, furniture for schools and universities, service apartment furniture, kitchen and upholstery furniture, home furniture, solid wood furniture, commercial furniture, and office furniture.

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Mayuri International

Based in Bangalore, Karnataka, this company is another key exporter of indoor furniture. Founded in 2010, the company is known to manufacture unique sofas in art leather and various other leather fabrics. They produce all types of furniture for international and local clients. They have many well-known clients, including Oracle, TATA AIG Insurance, Northern Trust, Puma, IBM, and Axis bank.

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Some of their product range includes living room furniture, bedroom wardrobe, custom designs for clients, classroom furniture, bedroom furniture, dining furniture, office furniture, hotel furniture, and outdoor furniture.

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Pure wood

Founded in 1997, Purewood specialises in antique and handmade furniture. Their factory is in Jodhpur, Rajasthan. They offer a range of products, such as accent furniture, Pinewood and Sheesham furniture, Mango wood furniture, industrial furniture, solid wood furniture, Acacia wood furniture, Vintage Rustic furniture, and industrial furniture.

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These are popular furniture manufacturers in India. The next section deals with the top furniture companies of 2019. You might study more about these companies to get a good hold of the furniture market in India.

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Furniture Companies in India

Here is a list of furniture companies in India.

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Godrej Interior

The company is among the most popular furniture companies in India. They manufacture almost every kind of furniture, such as office desks, executive series, dining sets, cabin furniture, beds and cupboards, sofas, coffee tables, dining chairs, dining tables, wall units, etc.

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Zuari Furniture

Set up in 2001, Zuari furniture is a subsidiary of business tycoon Birla groups. They produce an array of products, ranging from cabinets, TV trolleys, kitchen furniture, dining furniture, bedroom accessories, and office equipment to computer tables. They have a huge network of 475 dealers, 15 wholesalers, and 25 distributors. Depending on the size and quality of furniture, their price range varies from Rs. 2000 to Rs 75,000.

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So, now you also know about your competitor companies. However, it is significant to know your local competitors. These are big companies and you are not in direct competition with them. Your key competitors are the local furniture manufacturing units and furniture business.

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Conclusion

Despite the significant impact of COVID-19 on the furniture market, because of disturbance in supply chains, the global furniture market might grow from $634.53 billion in 2021 to $692.81 billion in 2024. So, if you are interested in furniture manufacturing or the online furniture business, this might be a golden time for you. If you already have a store, you might register it with online platforms, such as the Fynd platform, to increase your revenue.