Expert Speak: The evolution of India's luxury fashion e-commerce market

India is the fastest growing e-commerce market in the world. The country’s e-commerce market was worth about US $3.8 billion in 2009, it went up to US $17 billion in 2014 and to US $26 billion in 2016.
This figure, according to an ASSOCHAM-Forrester study, is expected to jump to $103 billion in 2020. While in terms of the base, India may be lower than China and other giants like Japan, the Indian rate of growth is way ahead of others.
The trend, which started with people buying fashion items of lower value online, has slowly but gradually increased in pace, bringing luxury fashion within its fold.
Indian consumers are exhibiting a distinctively higher preference towards luxury fashion brands. There seems to be an ever increasing and growing appetite for all things luxury. India has hence become a growing aspirational market for luxury fashion brands.
Deeper Penetration of the Smartphone, Internet
E-retailing has one major purpose – making everything accessible to customers. India is the third largest country in the world in terms of Internet access. Close to 140 million Indian people are now using the Internet and more than 75 per cent of Internet users in India are youngsters who like to experiment with luxury brands.
The rapid growth of smartphones and internet connectivity across the country, especially in tier-II and III cities, has given greater access to virtual shopping and e-tailing for the tech-savvy generation and millennials.
The fast pace of life, increase in the average income of the Indian individual and the propensity to transact online for convenience have all contributed to the growth of the e-commerce. The ease of access and deep discounting has also opened up the young Indian to luxury commerce.
Creating A One-Stop Shop
While factors like the Internet have made people aware of the high-end luxury brands, their origin, services, and their specialty, it has long been felt that designers have been unable to reach their target audience across the globe and vice versa. Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop aimed to cover this void and to create a one-stop shop for Indian designers.
The idea was to let people buy luxury from the comfort of their homes, while giving them access to global fashion and luxury fashion trends and without the hassle of setting up appointments with designers.
The younger generation is adapting faster to this trend – they are independent, make decisions instantly keeping their own comfort and convenience in mind. They are also more comfortable with the idea of purchasing merchandise without physically seeing or trying on the products.
Times have changed, fashion brands are appearing in the market so quickly that it has become very easy to miss out on things. For us at Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop, this was the opportunity to create curated customer experience, where they can browse through thousands of brands at one place.
However, running an e-commerce portal comes with its own challenges – one needs a qualified team to interact with customers at all times, then there are also logistical challenges (which we at Pernia’s Pop-Up Shop overcome by planning ahead), for in the end, a happy customer is the key to taking your e-commerce venture to the next level.