¥ Lack of talent: Talent which understand luxury retail as a sector is a challenge to find. Those available are under competent and highly over paid. Specialised skill centres and luxury B Schools have been initiated by few organizations, Luxury connect being the first one to do so.

¥ Import tariffs : Are averagely ranging between 30%-40%. This coupled with the high transportation costs, causes simple price parity and margin issues for retailers. It is often cheaper for Indians to buy abroad.

Indian Luxury Retail Trends – Opportunities

1. The Bridge to Luxury: The “bridge to luxury” is a strategy specifically aimed at emerging & immature luxury markets. For the luxury brand, this type of market presents a number of challenges.

¥ Demand is primarily driven by price. With wealth and disposable income a relatively new phenomenon the consumer is still extremely cost conscious.

¥ The consumer is looking for **brand aspiration/recognition as the main benefit of luxury** consumption. In other words, the market does not yet value luxury for the actual experience and quality — it is characterised by conspicuous consumption from an increasingly your image conscious population, keen to display their wealth or social status.

¥ The presence of “knock off” products in the local market — the combination of brand and cost driven demand the local market is much more open/susceptible to trade in fake goods.