"Many people are aware of our site; we want to make them buyers": Kashyap Vadapalli, CMO, Pepperfry

What makes people buy - and not buy - furniture from a dot com? Pepperfry's new campaign was born after the team analysed both, the purchase barriers and triggers.

With Diwali, India's biggest buying season, around the corner, brands are soon going to be at their generous best with the 'Dhamaka' and 'Bumper' sales, and the media will be inundated with ads announcing these eagerly-awaited offers. But, for the online furniture and home products marketplace Pepperfry, the party will be slightly different.

While there's no denying that the e-commerce revolution has considerably changed the way India shops, there are still certain categories which need that push to overcome psychological barriers that exist while shopping online. One such category is furniture. And, it is to dispel such apprehensions that Pepperfry has released a new campaign to inform potential customers about its services just before the festive season begins.

The campaign is based on insights from a Pepperfry-commissioned study conducted by Nielsen Market Research. The study revealed that while buying furniture online, customers are worried about three aspects -- the ambiguity about what is seen and ordered and what is received, the need for reassurance about doorstep delivery and hassle-free assembly services, and the lack of clarity on returns in case something goes wrong.

Conceptualised by Law & Kenneth Saatchi & Saatchi, the three ads address the above issues, one at a time. The campaign uses an elderly gentleman as the cynic who symbolises the old way of buying furniture. In contrast, is a young couple who is quite comfortable with making purchases on Pepperfry.com, thanks to its uncomplicated returns policy, efficient delivery, and the promise of 'What You See Is What You Get'.

The brand's TG includes young, urban Indians in the age group 25-45 years, who belong to SEC A. Elaborating further, Kashyap Vadapalli, CMO Pepperfry, says, "While these are people who are heavy internet users, and are familiar with the online mode of shopping, many among them are yet to become comfortable with buying furniture online. Furniture, as a category, has high-value, non-branded, and non-standardised products. Usually, people begin to shop online with low-value, branded, and standardised products, and then go on to the furniture category."

Vadapalli, however, points out that the customers' doubts are justified because unlike a branded product, for instance, an iPhone, where one knows what to expect, and especially, when making a second purchase, there's no consistency in this category. Hence, the brand thought that it would be beneficial to go ahead with a 'barrier softening' campaign instead of promoting its ongoing 'Mega Diwali Sale' ahead of the buying season.

"Many people are aware of our site; we want to make them buyers. Consumers will come to know of the sale once they land on the website, but to get them there, we must address these barriers," shares Vadapalli, adding, "The initiatives we took on the advertising and branding front over the last two years have paid off. We are happy with the demand and traffic on our portal. Pepperfry has also done well in terms of the three brand salience parameters that include awareness, top-of-mind recall, and preference."

Recently, Pepperfry raised Rs 210 crore in E Series funding from existing investors. The funds will be used to expand the brand's operations to the next 500 cities, increase the number of experience centres called 'Studio Pepperfry' from six in the metros to around 20 covering all major cities, and in automating the supply chain to bring more transparency in product handling and communication with customers.

Vadapalli believes that all this will help in converting the visits on the website into purchases. "The need," he states, "is to exploit the triggers which include occasions/life events, value for money, and availability options. While online offers better value for money and about 10 times more choice than offline, the purchase barriers, namely, concerns regarding quality, returns, and after sales service, need to be addressed. And, this is what the campaign talks about."

Expert Speak

Saurabh Uboweja, CEO and chief brand strategist, Brands of Desire, finds the execution to be of "high quality", one which delivers the message with ease and authenticity.

"The campaign has been designed to overcome the nervousness of online buyers for something as important as furniture, which becomes an integral part of his/her daily life," he says.

According to Uboweja, Pepperfry is making an attempt to build the image of a reliable furniture vendor which can be trusted for the most complex of requirements. "It is a sound and logical consumer insight to work upon. The younger generation is certainly more comfortable taking risks. We are in the middle of a change in buying patterns across categories and industries. While an elderly man is the protagonist, the brand has treated him with respect and shown him as someone who is willing to change his perception," he notes.