Indian e-commerce platform Flipkart has opened a physical furniture experience centre in Bengaluru.

The Walmart-owned firm’s 1800sqft store will retail around nine furniture brands, and is likely to be followed by two more similar outlets in the country.

“The furniture category has traditionally had a strong presence offline,” said VP of furniture, electronics and private labels Adarsh Menon, “because customers like to see and touch the products they are buying. We understand the requirements of customers and hence ‘FurniSure’”.

Industry competitor Ikea launched in India last year, attracting extensive queues.

Flipkart is also seeking to launch an offline supermarket.