Tasmayee
Laha Roy, The Economic Times
Kolkata,
29 October 2015
Whether it is making your own coffee table or rustling up an
exotic dish, Generation Y has taken a liking to DIY (do it yourself)
kits. Helping them in this endeavour are some retail and food
startups, which themselves are experimenting with the concept.
Half-year-old Bengaluru-based startup Ubyld ships close to 100
DIY furniture kits every day. Cofounder Shobha Nair said as much
as 90% of its customers were women, "who take pride in making
their own shelves, consoles, wine racks, coffee tables and chairs".
Priced between Rs 1,500 and Rs 3,300, the Ubyld kit comes with
pre-drilled wood components, screws, screwdriver, glue and an
instruction guide. The guide has a smart QR code, which when scanned
with a smartphone loads a 3D view of the furniture being built.
"In an age where mass production has become a norm, DIY
is a way to differentiate your product. Things like sewing kits
have been around for a very long way to create customised products
for the younger lot who want to fit into the crowd and stand out
at the same time," said Devangshu Dutta, chief executive
at retail consultancy Third Eyesight.
"Uniqueness in the product, and also the involvement
that goes into making your own things, is driving the DIY craze,"
he added.

Delhi-based leather brand Nappa Dori has a kit for the Indian
doit-youselfers who would like stitching up their own belts. This
14-element kit comes at Rs 2,800 and belt making includes everything
from dying the raw strip of leather to punching holes.
Nappa Dori sells close to 20 such kits a day to customers from
the three stores of the brand in Delhi and on its portal. It also
ships these kits abroad where DIY is a popular concept.
DIY has most takers among gourmets, who order these kits to cook
up exotic dishes and get rid of packaged food. While some of these
kits offer just measured ingredients, there are others who provide
partly prepped ingredients.
Let's Chef, Hautechef and Burgundy Box are among the food startups
that are working on the idea. Most of these startups also serve
meal boxes.
(Published in The
Economic Times.)
|