HOW ABOUT getting a Prada Rosso Saffiano Verniciato satchel to hold your petite ‘world’ together? Or that Versace neckline dress with matching Jimmy Choo glitter-embellished sandals to pep up the party at your friend’s place? And all this, sitting right in the comfort of your living room? Thanks to dedicated online retail destinations, luxury is becoming a household name in India, quite literally.
Top-notch global designer labels such as Prada, Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren, Emilio Pucci, Valentino, Bottega Veneta, Jimmy Choo, DKNY, Gucci, Burberry, Tory Burch, Michael Kors and Versace, among many others, are slowly but steadily making their way into the homes of Indian consumers owing to the growing power of e-commerce.
“Of late, Indian consumers have become more vigilant about luxury brands. This has paved the way for a huge luxury market in India. There has been an extraordinary growth in the field of fashion and style, and the luxury industry in general in India since about 2013,” says Nakul Bajaj, CEO of Darveys, a members-only shopping portal based on the international marketplace model, through which global luxury boutiques get to sell directly to consumers in India.
Rise of the luxe brigade
As per an Assocham-KPMG study, the Indian luxury market grew at a healthy rate of 30% to reach $8.5 billion in 2013 and is likely to continue growing at a pace of about 20% to reach $14 billion by 2016, owing to a rising number of wealthy people, growing middle class, affluent young consumers and other related factors. Although India currently enjoys just about 1-2% share of the global luxury market, it is the fifth-most attractive market for international retailers, says the study.
A significant factor fuelling this growth is e-commerce. “I strongly feel the Indian customer is waking up to the comfort, convenience and the practicality of buying online, though I believe luxury e-retail is still in a nascent stage. We, as a country, have a strong artisanal signature and the concept of tangibly/physically evaluating products before buying is ingrained in us—all the more for luxury goods. Despite this, there has been a steady increase in online buyers of luxury goods,” says Vineet Bahl, one of the few Indian designers retailing out of the global luxury e-commerce sites Net-a-porter and Anthropologie.
Earlier, most people bought luxury items when they travelled abroad. However, that trend is changing, says Deepak Kumar, managing director of Luxury Quotient India, which opened its online doors to the public recently. Luxury Quotient India claims to be the only authorised luxury marketplace with “written authorisation from brands to sell online in India”. It also claims to be the only full-price luxury portal in India. “There are no discounts and no liquidations; only current-season merchandise,” adds Kumar.
As per Amit Rawal, founder-CEO of Elitify, another online premium and luxury products retailer based in Gurgaon, people are ready to experiment more with new brands, bolder styles and colours. “We can see the maturity levels rise wherein consumers are moving from just ‘logo’-led purchases to more design and aesthetics value-led purchases. Staying with the trend and crafting a unique style that sets them apart from the crowd is an important driver for today’s consumers,” he explains.
In demand
For Luxury Quotient India, standard products such as accessories and lingerie items that are affordably priced (below Rs 20,000) are touted to see the most demand. “Also, uniquely styled and affordable western dresses by famous international designers are expected to do well. We are exclusively launching international designer labels like Jessica Simpson and Vince Camuto shortly,” says Kumar.
Elitify, too, sees a demand for handbags and accessories across several luxury brands such as Coach, Michael Kors and Armani Jeans. Elitify handpicks and curates the most trendy and unique products from all over the world. “Almost 95% of the products sold on Elitify are unique to us and are not sold on any other website in the country,” says Rawal. “We have grown over 20 times in the past 12 months and now have products across multiple categories, including apparel, home decor, fitness, electronics and premium beauty,” he adds.
At Darveys, the top-selling brands for men are Salvatore Ferragamo, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren, Versace and True Religion. For women, the portal sees more interest in brands such as Prada, Tory Burch, Michael Kors, Jimmy Choo, Moschino and Juicy Couture, to name a few. “Customers are mostly attracted to the portal for the kind of collection we have and the prices we offer. Being a completely new concept for the Indian populace, Darveys invites like-minded fashionistas to shop from a wide variety of products, that, too, all under one roof and at the ease of just a few clicks,” says Bajaj.
Twist in the tale
There is a massive market in India for luxury goods and great demand as well, but not enough money to fulfill it. So what do you do? Log on to a portal where you can buy and sell pre-owned designer goods at almost half the price. Anvita Mehra’s Confidential Couture was born out of this premise. The New Delhi-headquartered portal offers a wide range of coveted products from brands such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Hermés, among others, all of which are curated and priced on the basis of their condition. The ‘condition guide’ varies from ‘never been used’ and ‘gently used’ to ‘fairly used’ products. As the name suggests, it keeps its clients’ identity strictly confidential.
“For every new car that is bought, there is a buyer for the used one. This has been an age-old concept and that is what I have tried to incorporate in the luxury fashion world,” says Mehra. “We started with a very humble beginning, but have already moved up to more than half a million visitors in less than a year. With the increasing awareness and acceptance of the concept, we are getting a lot of sellers, thereby increasing our product portfolio not only in numbers, but also in the range that we offer,” she adds.
Talking about brand knowledge, Mehra says there is a lot of awareness about certain brands in our country such as Louis Vuitton, Dior and Gucci, making them top sellers. “Nevertheless, what is interesting is that the brands that have no direct presence in our retail market, such as Prada and Valentino, are a close second,” she explains.
In the West, however, this is not a new concept. Popularly called ‘re-commerce’, pre-owned high-fashion goods get a second life and ‘gently used’ designer accessories and bags are purchased and sold by savvy-shoppers at jaw-dropping deals. This ‘realistic luxury shopping’ experience is being promoted by a slew of sites in the West like ShopHers, Snobswap and Yoogi’s Closet, among others, stocking pre-owned world’s top luxury brands.
Genuine concern
There have been some reports in the past that said international luxury brands offered online or on e-commerce platforms are either fake or second-hand substitutes. How much of it is true? As per designer Bahl, it all depends on where you’re buying them from. “The online space offers numerous opportunities for retailers across product categories and price brackets. This is where the consumer needs to be aware and ensure that he or she doesn’t fall for chicanery or false claims. The danger of selling fake products is not entirely limited to e-commerce platforms—many physical stores carry fakes as well,” he explains.
Distinguishing the authentic products from the ‘first copies’ requires a great deal of experience and expertise, says Bajaj of Darveys. “However, a steadfast brand devotee would certainly be cognizant of bona fide luxury, style and sophistication,” he adds.
Before any product can make it to the Confidential Couture website, it has to go through stringent processes of authentication, offers Mehra.The process involves rigorous checks, including obtaining certification from internationally accepted authenticating agencies. Only after they are satisfied, the product goes through the process of bio-cleaning followed by professional photography of every product.
“We then value the product with our expert panel, considering the new price and fashion, and offer it at an attractive price on our website,” adds Mehra of Confidential Couture.
“It’s an unfortunate situation. Some e-commerce companies in India have taken advantage of our legal systems and gotten away with selling fakes online. It’s not only unethical to engage in such practices, but it also hurts the consumer sentiment and affects the growth of the industry,” says Rawal of Elitify. “I think the industry needs to come together against these merchants selling fakes and collectively tackle this problem to ensure that we win consumer trust and encourage more people to adopt the lifestyle that these premier brands represent,” he adds.
What’s next?
Going forward, online selling is here to stay, say experts. “There can be no over-emphasis about this. I think the game-changing power lies in the hands of consumers who are increasingly becoming more and more powerful. Marketers and product designers will, therefore, need to be very receptive to cash in on this trend,” says designer Bahl, adding, “We are coming up with our own e-store that will have a surprise element in terms of product offering.”
Kumar of Luxury Quotient India says the ticket size of online transactions has been increasing over time and it will continue to grow rapidly over the next few years, with more mature consumers buying luxury goods online. “However, with increased awareness, most fake and unauthorised e-tailers may go out of business, while the number of customers buying luxury online will continue to grow,” he adds.
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