Tier 2, 3 Cities the New Sales Drivers for Luxury Brand Market: Report

BENGALURU: How brand conscious are you? Before you try to think and set an answer, here is a survey by the CII-IMRB revealing how brand conscious Indians are. The report is called 'Emerging Consumers of Luxury, India tier 2 and 3' state.

The report reveals brand conciseness two to three times more in 2tier and 3tier cities though the reach and promotion of luxury brands is low in these areas. The luxury brand consumption in these cities has been out reaching the metros in the past three hours.

Top cities that are champs in luxury brand consumption across India are Ahmedabad, Pune, Nagpur, Hyderabad and Ludhiana. They account for 16pct of total luxury brand sale in the country.

35pct of luxury brand sale happen in non metros of India like Aurangabad, Ludhiana, Kochi and Bellary.

The survey covers both male and female respondents in the age group of 20-55years with annual household income more than 1crore as the source of primary and secondary data.

2tier and 3tier cities that have been made a part of this survey are Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Kanpur, Coimbatore, Anand, Bhopal, Patna, Kochi and Rajkot.

According to the same report, the percentages of different aspects of luxury brand consumption include luxurious aspect (69 pct), style (64 pct), modernity (63 pct) and reliability (61 pct).

Founder and managing director of Genesis Luxury, Sanjay Kapoor said, "I definitely feel that there are a lot of luxury buyers in the interiors of India, a section that is still largely unexplored by brands. We've only touched the tip of the iceberg in the main metros.” Genesis Luxury sells brands like Jimmy Choo, Bottega Veneta, Canali, Armani Jeans and Giorgio Armani.

Kapoor further added, "A lot of our clients from smaller towns visit our stores in the metros regularly. These people also travel overseas and shop there. At times we also organise home shopping for some key clients upon request."

For men, shopping revolves around apparel, accessories as well as gadgets and cars; women like to buy jewelry, apparel and accessories. Respondents under the age of 35 showed tilt towards financial and individual values while those above 35 focused on uniqueness of the product.

CEO and founder of Ethos Watch Boutiques, Yasho Saboo said,

"The smaller cities have huge spending capacities and we end up underestimating them. It is our privilege to have a loyal customer base from these cities. People are indulging in luxury of all kinds. Be it cars, watches, fine dining, thematic weddings and elaborate wedding trousseaus and luxury holidays. High-priced watches from the Swiss watch brands are preferred and bought and we provide a huge variety which they keep coming back for."  In India, Ethos Watch Boutiques sales brands like Carl F Bucherer, Omega, Rado and Longines.

Chairman of Technopak Advisors, Arvind Singhal considers top 14-15 cities for growth in luxury brands consumption.

Partner and head consumer markets at KPMG, India Rajat Wahi comments, "This is primarily since the market for luxury automobiles and jewellery outside the metros is now larger. A German luxury car maker estimated 60 pct of its sales to be outside of Delhi and Mumbai."

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