Pune: This festive season has seen a notable surge in the purchase of luxury bags, watches and high-end apparel brands as shoppers seek to ring in Diwali with elegance and sophistication.
Retailers attributed the growth in demand to discounts that brands have offered as well as the rise in average spending capacity.
Wakad resident Nikhil Joshi said he recently purchased a few high-end perfumes for gifting purposes.”There have been good discounts both online and offline. We got a good deal on some luxury perfume brands. We plan to curate hampers to gift to close family members,” he said.
A huge number of orders and average ticket value have driven growth for online platform Tata CLiQ Luxury. Categories like Indiluxe fashion, beauty, accessories, watches and home items have done well at the platform, its chief said. “We have seen nearly 100% growth year-on-year in categories such as men’s and women’s apparel. Additionally, we have seen strong growth in luxury handbags and a rise in sales of luxury watches that are priced above Rs 1 lakh,” said Gopal Asthana, CEO of Tata CLiQ.
Sale events during the festive season are crucial growth drivers for the e-commerce sector, said retailers. Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO of Retailers Association of India, said that the concept of “luxury” is not clear for the country and that boundaries have begun to blur across categories.
“Premiumisation as a trend has picked up over the last two to three years. People are increasingly shopping for global brands in India across categories this festive season,” he said.
Customers like Kalyaninagar resident Astha Tanna agreed that sale events make a big difference. “All top brands are running discounts or offers so I am doing my wedding shopping now. I purchased a few saris and bags last week,” she said.
Luxury and limited-edition watches are another hot favourite this season. Ashok Goel, who runs Luxury Time, said, “We have already seen a 10% to 12% uptick in demand for luxury watches since the beginning of the festive season. We expect demand to be in the range of 12%-15% higher as we move deeper into the festive and marriage season. Watches in the range of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh are seeing good sales.”
Even pre-owned luxury bags have seen a bump in sales. Anvita Mehra, founder and CEO of Confidential Couture, said Oct to Dec is generally good for sales. “We have seen a 25%-30% growth in demand for pre-owned products that have price tags intact because these are good for gifting. They are available lower than the market price and are unused,” she said.
