A lot more Indians are buying their Jimmy Choo’s
and Roberto Cavalli’s online, often only because they can pull a neat bargain
on high-end exclusivity.
In November, 27.2 million people in India aged 15 or above
accessed an online store, 18% more than in the previous year, digital
measurement firm comScore Inc. said in a report in December. Although a bulk of
the traffic went to discount sites, entrepreneurs, impressed with the value and
volume of online shopping, see a potential for luxury labels gaining presence
online, comScore said.
Singapore-based non-resident Indian Urvashi
Sahay launched excluzen.com a couple of months ago. Its multibrand
top-end and high-street luxury online showroom deals in brands such as Apple,
Bang & Olufsen, Tag Heuer, Omega, Satya Paul, Just Cavalli, Rosenthal and
Callaway. The site also offers services such as premium travel, hotels,
shopping, nightlife, health and beauty, golf lessons and private charters.
Excluzen was born to fill in the gap of quality products and
services in the online space, said Sahay, the chief executive of excluzen.
“There is demand for quality and luxury products in India. For me, as a user,
there was hardly any Internet site that gave me quality product or experience.
We wanted to capture this opportunity for people living in India.”
Even excluzen offers discounts ranging from 15% to 45% depending
on the product category. The most expensive item sold on excluzen last month
was a Rs.2.25
lakh Tag Heuer watch that went for Rs.1.54 lakh.
The change in spending capacity and the mindset of Asian consumers
is conducive for the luxury market now, Sahay believes. “Unlike our parents who
would make a list of things to shop for, consumers today enjoy spontaneous
indulgence, which spurs growth for luxury,” she said.
Online shopping in India is set to explode.
Indians are likely to spend $84 billion on online stores by 2016, compared to
the $7 billion they spent in 2010, Boston Consulting Group predicted in a
report released on Monday. That’s not all. Online sales will account for 4.5%
of the total retail sales in India by 2016, from 0.9% now, it said in the
report titled ‘Connected World Series’.
Willis Shah, a 30-year-old who stays in Mumbai’s Malad suburb, for
instance, wouldn’t have bought Apple Inc.’s MacBook computer from Exlcuzen.com if he hadn’t spotted a discount.
“Initially, I was sceptical to buy the MacBook online but... price points were
cheaper by Rs.1,500 over other sites. So I was tempted to make the purchase,” he
said.
Nascent online payment systems have hampered the luxury e-commerce
story in India. Consumers who buy large value goods tend to shy away from
online consumption; they research online and purchase offline, said Arvind
Subramanian, partner and director, The Boston Consulting Group. They also look
forward to a high level of service attached to the physical experience of
luxury shopping.
Urvashi Sahay, though, is upbeat about the future of luxury
e-commerce in India. “Simpler payment gateways, lower duties on luxury could
drive this market. However, the biggest game-changer could be bank schemes that
extend credit and allow users to purchase products on equated monthly
instalments.”
Source - www.livemint.com
http://www.excluzen.com/home.aspx
No comments:
Post a Comment