Working women drive growth of Indian luxury industry: survey

India is home to over 1,200 ultra-affluent women with a combined net worth of about 100 billion dollars with majority of them being in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai and Pune. “Growing number of young working women (with high paying jobs) having increased awareness of global fashion and beauty trends are driving up the demand for high-end luxury products and accessories across various segments be it jewellery, watches, apparels, footwear, cosmetics and others,” noted an analysis based on a survey conducted by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). 

“Working women or women with an active life have better spending propensity and are thus conscious of their appearance and are open to investing in luxury products,” said DS Rawat, secretary general of ASSOCHAM while releasing the findings of the chamber’s analysis. “As professional women are emerging as the new decision makers and make most of their household purchases, it is imperative for luxury brands to open dedicated women’s stores and expand their offerings to build long-term relationships with this new breed of luxury spenders,” said Rawat. 

“Luxury industry is becoming more female dominated as women’s brands have experienced a steep rise,” he added. “Considering the low levels of penetration currently even as an increasing number of affluent women are entering the consumption curve, there is a huge scope for leading global luxury retail brands to expand their India footprint, by focusing on ‘women special’ product portfolio and carrying out innovative marketing campaigns,” further said Rawat. 

The industry body had also interacted with about 500 working women in an annual salary bracket of Rs 5-10 lakh in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi-NCR and Mumbai to gauge their shopping habits during August-September this year. About 20 per cent of the total respondents said they purchase only luxury products owing to their quality control and easy availability both online and offline. While, many of these said that luxury products have top-notch quality and that is the sole reason they prefer them over regular products and affordability is not an issue as they earn enough to splurge. 

Of the remaining, majority said they buy at least one luxury product whenever they go shopping and have a plethora of luxury products lined up in their wish list which has been growing by the day. The rest of the respondents said luxury products are only overrated and pricey.