Owning furniture and other assets for that matter is becoming a thing of the past. Products are literally flying out of warehouses belonging to furniture rental startups and it is already evident that the renting trend is here to stay.
In the last few years alone, the decline in the trend of buying goods is significant. Which brings us to the question of the hour – Why is furniture rental booming?
Millennials – The Power Bunch
A large chunk of today’s working population is formed by millennials. By definition, they are folks born anywhere between 1980s to 2000s. Here’s a fun fact, millennials are folks who fancy living a good life. Experts claim that they prefer spending their money on good food, clothing and leisure and not in buying classic assets like houses/land/immovable assets.
So, how do millennials play a role in furniture rental boom?
1). Indian youngsters want the best of everything in the least possible price. They prefer using cabs to autos, eating out to cooking at home and the likes. They also prefer using the most advanced gadgets. Why then would they compromise on furniture alone? They would not want shoddy looking pieces which are second hand or cheapest in the market. They want they good stuff.
2) Millennials give a lot of thought to how they spend their hard earned cash. In their thinking, why shell out 35k to furnish their house when they can spend around 2k to rent everything needed in a bedroom? The remaining 33k could be invested in short term policies and the interest earned from that alone could fund the rent payments for the next few months!
3)They hate being tied down. The younger generation prefer being free to move around often. Buying assets would be a direct hurdle for that. If you have a lot of personal belongings – cars, furniture, appliances. Besides, they rarely have the time to sit around searching for buyers or ways to dispose their used goods.
4) Buying isn’t a one time expense. This is a painful realization. Once you buy something, be it a house, furniture or appliances, there will always be maintenance and repair costs. And that will always be an added strain on your budget.
The Rise Of Rental Economy
Renting is not just kind to our pockets, it is also very convenient. In fact, it is more convenient that buying. We all know that youngsters are huge fans of doing everything from the comforts of their home. They’re also huge fans of tech. And most of these rental startups give them the technical backing to suit their needs.. Like other shopping sites, you can simply add products to the cart from the online catalog, pay for it and have it delivered to your doorstep. You can also track the goods while they are on their way to you. And finally, with each rental company having a considerable presence on social media and the Internet as such, transparency is more than ever. It builds a certain trust while also giving them a platform to raise their voices should they ever face a bad experience.
With all these features bringing in more customers, investors too aren’t shying away. Based on the statistics, rental startups are doing extremely well in major Indian cities. This means that not only are they getting customers, they are also getting the much needed funding from investors.
More and more investors are coming on board for the subscription like plans in provided by rental startups. They see potential in it and are willing to contribute because the rental economy shows promise.
Renting Is Here To Stay
All things considered, renting looks like a trend that will stay on. Here’s why we think so –
- Even experts agree that renting DOES make sense financially. Like how we explained before, interests earned from short term policies can be used to pay rents. And there will be no extra expenses on repairs and replacements.
- There is no going back to a tied down lifestyle. Now that everyone has a taste of the freedom associated with renting, people will prefer that over buying. People will prefer saving up for other things like travel or children’s education or tech.
- Startups are sprouting even in smaller cities to offer up goods on rent. Anything from furniture, appliances to even gaming gear can be rented. They can be returned as and when their requirement expires.
- On a larger picture, it is in fact kinder to the environment. If everyone hoards furniture and appliances, we will be forced to manufacture new ones and that takes up resources. If old ones are simply discarded while upgrading, the amount of waste piling up wouldn’t be pleasant either.
Let’s take a moment to clarify something – we’re not saying that renting is a bad idea. It makes sense for folks who are planning to settle down and be in a city/home for years to come. For such people, shelling out the cash to own household appliances and furniture may be a good idea. And there is also the matter of personal choice, if you’d rather own the stuff in your home, renting would suit you. However, we were just trying to make you understand that renting comes with its own set of benefits and that they are very compelling benefits.
If you’re still unsure, we recommend that you head over to our site and browse through our product catalog. You’ll be amazed to realize that you can fully furnish your home with just a few thousand bucks and in less than 72 hrs!