← Business Models: Industry Specific (Consumer, Services & Financial) (all topics)
Unorganised competition - furniture (carpenter-made)
What it is
Furniture in India is still bought mostly as made-to-order carpentry - a local carpenter working on site or in a small workshop, paid for labour and material separately, with no brand, warranty or standard specification
Organised and branded furniture holds a small minority of the market, concentrated in metros and in office and institutional supply
Impact on industries
- The carpenter model prices only labour and material, so a branded maker carrying design, retail space, delivery and warranty cannot meet it on price
- Apartment living, smaller spaces and faster household formation favour standard sizes and fitted solutions that site carpentry serves poorly
- Panel Quality Control Orders, GST formalisation and the growth of organised and online furniture retail all push share toward the branded end
- The unorganised segment absorbs raw-material inflation by cutting specification rather than raising price, which keeps the gap wide