In conversation with Rajesh Nair, Director - EBCO Private Limited talks about the Indian Furniture & Fittings Industry

How do you see the Indian Furniture & Fittings market 5 years from now?

It will be far more organised. We will see many manufacturers setting up small, medium and large production units. Having said, achieving competitiveness is going to be a big challenge. Some kind of consolidation will happen by then.

How is the market distributed based as per product types (Zinc Alloy, Aluminium Alloy, Iron, Plastic, Stainless Steel) & application (Example Bedroom, Living Room, Dining Room, Hotel, Office, Other)?

It is less of material selection but more of lifestyle choices, value for money, solution-functionality-ergonomics based approach and preferring space-saving products.

Online shopping for fittings & hardware is increasing now, what is EBCO’s take on this? What percentage of business comes through online and where do you see yourself in the online space in the next 3 years?

We have a strong offline base across the length and breadth of the country. However, we also have a running e-commerce platform which is more D2C based with DIY kind of products. Whenever we feel the need, it can be scaled up exponentially.

For any sector, ‘innovation’ is a key pre-requisite. In this scenario, brands will have to work constantly on innovation to grow. Product Design, Functionality, Material, Automation – where do you see yourself innovating in the long term?

All above applies to us at EBCO. We have introduced about 50 products already till date in 2022 (with sizes and finishes about 210). This will be an ongoing process at Ebco. Many of the production scale up is happening due to assembly automation, better material handling and new hi-tech machinery.

Do you see the online Rental Furniture market as a threat or an opportunity to your business? Why?

Rental furniture is always an opportunity as they are our customers.

What are the major drivers of the Furniture Fittings industry? Do you think, we as a country will be able to increase our exports in this product category?

We as a company are quite competitive to export and exporting to few countries already. However, there is a lot to do in Indian market itself.