Shopping Blog

There was a time when super rich Indians used to fly to Singapore, London, New York, Paris or Milan to enjoy shopping for their favorite luxury brands. But the liberalization of the Indian economy is rapidly changing the overall economic scenario and more and more Indians are being flushed with disposable income. These neo-rich Indians are not averse to splurge their money on exclusively branded products by such iconic names like Jimmy Choo, Christian Dior, Chanel, Versace, Gucci, Rolex, Omega, Louis Vuitton or Dunhill. But the enchanting experience of shopping these brands has been absent here for so long due to the absence of exclusive shopping space dedicated for luxury goods though most of these global luxury brands have opened their shops in posh hotels in cities like Mumbai and Delhi.

According to a recent survey by US-based commercial real estate service company CB Richard Ellis (CBRE), India tops amongst the emerging markets and thus is the most sought after country by world famous retailers. Its super high-end luxury market is growing at an exponential rate of 25 percent and is slated to exceed $1.25 billion by 2010.

One important thing with these luxury brands are that they are very choosy with whom they robe their soldiers and hence they do not want to open shops just anywhere else. They want exclusivity of their store just like their products. This resulted in local real estate giants like DLF building shopping malls that would match or better global shopping centers for luxury brands. For example multi-millionaire Delhites will soon enjoy leisurely shopping experience at The Emporio Mall or Bengaluru will soon have their own international standard luxury mall at The Collection.

But all is not that rosy as yet. Although all these world renowned brands want to open their shops here and provide their exclusive products to super affluent Indians, still the existing FDI policy of India is acting as a hindrance as it does not let foreign companies to full ownership of their shops. Hopefully, the Indian government will soon initiate the next step in economic reform and erase these red-tape problems faced by both local consumers and brands.