To file DRHP in the next few months; mulls raising $250-300 m through IPO
According to a senior official, Pepperfry, which is planning to go public, may start manufacturing furniture by the end of the year or the beginning of the following year. In addition to focusing on inorganic expansion in the manufacturing and B2B sectors, Pepperfry wants to use the proceeds of its planned $250–300 million initial public offering (IPO) to expand into new markets and product categories.
The online retailer of furniture and housewares has announced that it will submit its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) in the coming months. The company’s co-founder and COO, Ashish Shah, told BusinessLine: “We will submit our DRHP within the next month or two, and see how the market plays out following that.”
Focus points
“We want to focus on both organic and inorganic growth. We will continue to expand our omnichannel footprint — that is our key area, and second is our supply chain and overall portfolio. Thirdly, we want to focus on technology; we have invested in augmented reality and virtual reality,” he added.
Pepperfry has over 17,000 products on its platform, and caters to 10,000 PIN codes and 90+ cities. During the pandemic, it has fast-tracked its offline expansion too. In the past 10 months, the company has added 100 stores taking the total number of stores to 190 stores.
Inorganic growth
Speaking about the inorganic growth, he said the company has already started taking steps towards expanding its B2B segment. It has hired a team and started taking on smaller-scale projects with restaurants. “B2B business is today 5 per cent to 7 per cent of our overall scale, but we want to focus on it in the future, so there is an ambition there,” said Shah.
The other thing the eCommerce platform would like to focus on, according to him, is manufacturing. During a media briefing on Monday, Shah said the company sources its products, even for its private labels, and provides a manufacturer the license to make its products. At least 45 per cent of the company’s sales comes from its private labels.
When asked if the company planned to enter into manufacturing, he said, “We are keen to identify segments. Wherever there is an opportunity, we’d like to explore it,” without mentioning the segments. On the sidelines, in response to BusinessLine’s query, Shah said the company is exploring this opportunity “for the end of this year or early next year.” Courtesy: www.thehindubusinessline.com