How Can Furniture Make Life More Flexible?
Smarti
Easing furniture ownership for a generation on the move
sometimes the comfort of a furnished home isn’t worth the hassle of actually owning any furniture
For young Indian professionals, life in the upswing of their careers is a constant churn. Life is structured so it's easy to say 'yes' when new opportunities come up. But when you move cities every two or three years, owning anything that is difficult to move is impractical. In India most rented apartments come completely bare, without any appliances or furniture. For tens of thousands of young professionals, refrigerators, stoves, and furniture of any kind are unwanted anchors.
Emergent went to India to help Godrej create a disruptive furniture service for the mobile, urban lifestyle.
Flexibility is more valuable than ownership.
Godrej is India’s third largest furniture and appliance manufacturer. Traditionally, families have valued the security and status of owning a Godrej fridge, cupboard and washing machine. But times are changing.
Through extensive in-home interviews, Emergent learned that, unlike their parents, young Indian professionals valued flexibility more than ownership. “No commitments” was the mantra we heard again and again.
We developed Smarti, a furniture service that combines the freedom of renting with the financial security of ownership.
Smarti makes moving a snap.
"Godrej & Boyce is getting sexier, in a hurry"
"If a consumer intends to part ways with a product, the company will buy it back, refurbish and resell it. It is part of Godrej & Boyce's pilot project on sustainable short-term furniture and appliance rental service for "transient consumers" who travel frequently or have transferable jobs."
A new way for Godrej to use their network.
The service is designed to leverage Godrej’s vast network of assets —appliances, furniture, warehouses and logistic networks — to tap into a new market. In tandem with the Godrej Appliances team we created the service blueprint from both the user and business perspective.
In 2015, Godrej launched Smarti in Pune, a large university town nearby to Mumbai.
Turns out we were on to something. Since Smarti's launch, appliance and furniture services like Furlenco, RentOnGo and Rentmojo have exploded across the country.