International luxury labels take e-tail route to India

With limited luxe malls and high streets along with steep rentals in India, global luxury labels are taking the e-tail route to tap consumers in metros and small towns. As per a recent McKinsey report, online sales of luxury items in India are growing twice as fast as the overall e-tail.

Recently, leading fashion portal Jabong.com brought international fashion labels like Dorothy Perkins and River Island to India. And flash-sale site Fashionandyou.com launched a ‘Luxury Lounge’ section stocked with top global fashion brands like Salvatore Ferragamo watches, Coach handbags, Aston Martin sunglasses and Burberry & Versace handbags for the fashion savvy consumers in the country.

While ecommerce is doing very well with players like Flipkart, Amazon, Snapdeal fighting for a larger pie, experts point out that luxury labels present in India are keeping themselves away from being lured by this medium. The fear of fakes is a major concern among them, they have been constantly fighting this. Also the government policy does not allow brands with foreign direct investment to sell online.