Luxury in India defies inflation | WARC | The Feed

Luxury in India defies inflation

A combination of impatience and digitalisation is helping spur India’s luxury goods market back towards pre-pandemic levels, anecdotal evidence suggests.

Why it matters

The inflation concerns that affect the mass market aren’t evident in the luxury sector, where sales of watches, jewellery and fashion are all recovering, helped by new e-commerce options. Sales of used cars are also surging at the top end of the market as buyers prefer to have something now rather than wait for months for a new model because of the global chip shortage that has affected production.

Tales from the market

• Luxury car manufacturer Lamborghini reported a record year in 2021 in India, while Lexus expects to reach its 2019 sales figures this fiscal year. 

• By the end of 2021, sales at watch brand Ulysse Nardin exceeded those of 2019, while demand this year is outstripping production, Mint reports. 
• Fashion retailer The Collective is almost back to its 2019 figures and is confident enough to be introducing new brands into its luxury portfolio. 

Key quote

“There is increased access to luxury products due to the rise in digitalisation. Several e-commerce platforms … offer access to even tier II/III cities to shop for luxury goods which wasn’t the case earlier as all luxury brands were only present in tier I cities in upscale shopping malls” – Anul Sareen, a research consultant at Euromonitor International.

Sourced from Mint [Image: Getty]