Cossue - What the Post Pandemic World Holds in store for the Luxury Market in India

It goes without saying; the year 2020 has upended the business dynamics for all major industries around the globe considerably. These rings eerily true for the Luxury Market as well which has long been regarded immune to ebbs & peaks of the mortal markets.

The Luxury Industry suffered a sharp slump of over 40% in the first three 2020 Quarters in itstraditional markets of the US & Europe, which represents the sharpest peacetime disruption the industry has seen post WWII. The only major bright spot that remains is the APAC region, more specifically China. China’s success in containing the Pandemic early on and the seemingly insatiable Chinese appetite for all things fine has single handedly prevented the industry from slipping into oblivion.

So, what does this augur for the Indian Luxury market which is forecasted to overtake UK to become the 5^th largest in the world by 2025? Let’s take a look further.

Luxury has had a consistent definition for a long time, products made of the finest material, impeccable craftsmanship, priced at the top of the market, sold with high concierge services and up until now predominantly with a Walk-In experience. But does this still hold true in the post-covid era with the future of Physical retail highly uncertain?

The natural calling of the Luxury Industry in India has always been phygital says Abhimanyu Yadav Founder of Cossue, one of the fastest growing Luxury E commerce marketplace in India.

“India has always been the golden bird too hard to catch for major luxury names around the world, The Industry very well knows the massive inherent potential the market possesses but faces equally uphill challenges in bringing their case studies and concepts to working business models. Over the last 5 years the Market has faced repeated headwinds not least of which were demonetizations, PAN linkage enforcement, falling USD/INR pair and then the COVID has nearly brought it down to its knees”

What the brands need is a thorough rethinking of their approach towards the Country. With one of the Lowest sales/retail sq. feet cost in the world, a highly fragmented consumer base, per store operation cost has always been quite untenable for niche luxury segment which has time and again shown itself in financial distress of many major players such as Burberry, Longchamp, Celine to name a few.

The Devastation caused by the Pandemic has only highlighted the precariousness of this business model in India & a glaring need to finally go Digital with all its might in a country that has adopted digitization like few others.

But this begs the Question Luxury Brands have long asked, “Willgoing digital inevitably dilute our selling proposition “

Abhimanyu Believes on the contrary the Digital proposition holds the holy grail to the domestic markets here, “One of the major reasons we have been able to clock 25% QoQ growth over the last year is the contribution of Tier 2 cities and satellite metros in our sales pie. Being an online only marketplace allows us to provide possibly the widest & most comprehensive selection of Pre-owned items than can be made available in any physical format. Major metros in India though still significant contributors have long become saturated with the brands mistaking these handful of cities with the behemoth the overall Indian Luxury consumer market is”

Cossue is bridging the much-needed gaps that have been left by global players in assessing the needs & wants of the Indian Consumers. We are the first company to have brought the concept of Circular Accessible Luxury to India at scale. The Financial turmoil the country is going though especially with the resurgence of the second Covid wave has unquestionably dampened the animal spirits of consumers but they are still very much on a lookout for experiences and products they have always wanted albeit with a better value.

Our Foray into the pre-owned category serves a dual purpose, It provides a replacement to the bridge to luxury segment with customers not having to choose between refinement/legacy and a mighty hole in their pockets. People can choose to be part of a community without stretching their budgets & experience the products that were up until recently reserved for a select few. For our individual Sellers, many of whom traditionally come from a segment that has shied away from the pre-loved market, this provides an opportunity for them to more closely engage with the concept helping shed any apprehensions they may have possessed previously.