EMI purchases on a high across online furniture portals

BENGALURU: Customers are increasingly opting for equated monthly instalment (EMI) options while shopping for furniture online, resulting in a 5-8% rise in EMI payments in the year ended 31 March from a year earlier, according to several top company executives.

Around 12-15% of overall transactions across online furniture brands such as Pepperfry, Urban Ladder, and on refurbished marketplace Zefo are now paid in EMIs. Furniture brands tie up directly with non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), banks and lenders for credit scoring, while collection of loans is processed directly by the lending partner.

“EMI purchases in FY19 accounted for 19% of our sales, up 3% compared to FY18 and up by 8% over a two-year period,” said Ambareesh Murty, chief executive of Pepperfry.