Summary :

• Market entry barriers
• Indian season
• Interview of the day

“WAITING UNTIL A MARKET IS ALREADY ESTABLISHED WILL CONSIGN THE COMPANY TO OUTSIDER”!

Early market entry has undeniably given some fashion and luxury brands a competitive advantage. In the book “New Mission for Multinationals”, Santos and Williamson (2015) argue that multinational executives need ‘to make bold moves into developing markets – even before the economic potential is proven. Waiting until a market is already established will consign the company to outsider. Yet, arguably the most prominent factors deterring international brand retail ambitions are a combination of weak infrastructure and the profusion of regulatory restriction.” 

The authors also asked those executives to “embrace a new mission: Integrate locally and adapt globally”… Although this was 8 years ago, and marketers know about the criticality of being market-relevant, the challenge remains, as the world de-globalises, influences shift from West to East,sometimes along with nationalism, national product better competititevess, and rise of sub-cultures and hyper local markets. For Reliance VP Suvneet Abuja Luxury, “brands need to go beyond the traditional arrival cities expanding South andEast. India is a land of many cultures. We need to absorb various regional and cultural influences to a create unique brand persona in every market“.

You are a XXXX brand and want to enter the Indian market ? Contact us to see how we can help

FLASHBACK ON 2 KEY EVENTS OF INDIA 2023 FESTIVE SEASON

DIWALI, November 7-12, 2023

India’s festive season runs for several weeks until Diwali, the Festival of Lights. The leading market places have their very own flagship events, like China’s Singles’ Day, running from mid-September until end of October, for a duration of 7 days to a month, which makes most of the sales. Amazon India “Great India Festival “(GIF), Flipkart’s “Big Billion Days” (BBD), and Myntra’s “Big Fashion Festival” (BFF), are followed by TataCLIQ Luxury and Palette, and Reliance’s Ajio Luxe, and beauty player Tira, who want to seize (more than) a piece of the growing ecommerce market

5 Key figures & learnings

• Overall sales recorded a YoY growth of 4.4% in 2023 
• 8x spike demand for international fragrances & professional beauty brands during Amazon GIF (Oct 8-Nov 10)
• Close to a 4x engagement increase for Flipkart’s new ChatGPT-powered shopping assistant Flippi 
• 60% rise in demand over Myntra’s BFF 2022 on Beauty and personal care, home decor, jewellery, watches, luggage and travel accessories 
• Consumer confidence reached a 4-year high in September, while demand for bank loans near a 12-year high 

Moving forward: The wedding season (November 23 – December 15) is expected to result in $50 billion of spending on items like gold jewelry, clothing and other consumer goods. (source: Confederation of All India Traders)

For the Full Report on the Shopping Festivals and Diwali 2023/2022, email us at: contact@asialoopers.com

13th CRICKET WORLD CUP, October 5 – November 19, 2023

There’s been a confluence of festivities and fervour in India, as the festive season coincided with the electrifying Men’s Cricket World Cup. A time when commerce and culture came together spectacularly, uniting the nation in festivity and economic prosperity 

5 Key figures & learnings

• 800 million viewers were expected vs 552 million in 2019
• Zomato food delivery giant’s shares reached a 52-week high just days before the ICC ODI World Cup kickoff.
• 150 cinemas in over 60 cities (major metros Tier-1 2 3 cities) screened the Final for +70 000 cricket fans 
• NFT platform FanCraze launched Crictos, the exclusive CWC digital collectibles
• Bank of Baroda’s economists expect the World Cup to boost India’s economy by $2.6 billion.

Read “Cricket, an Indian religion: how brands are taking over the phenomenon” (In French) 

For the Cricket Full Report and/or consulting on the Cricket opportunity for your brand (cricket will be at the,  2028 Olympics in LA), email us at: contact@asialoopers.com

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Jayanti GANGULY, VP Business of Myntra

As the festive Season was heating up, Laure de Carayon asked questions to Jayanti GANGULY, VP Business of Myntra, a Fkipkart owned and leading India ecommerce player 

Laure de Carayon: Can you introduce Myntra, and its key milestones?
Jayanti Ganguly: Myntra is one of India’s leading fashion, beauty and lifestyle destinations offering trend-first consumers of the country more than 2.3 million styles from 6000+ popular international and homegrown brands. Founded in 2007, Myntra’s vision is to democratise fashion, beauty and lifestyle in the country on the back of cutting-edge technology. With a strong logistics backbone and aim to solve for accessibility, Myntra caters to 96% of the serviceable pin codes in the country. 

LC: There’s an influx of foreign fashion & beauty brands in the Indian market, from the casual to the premium and luxury segments: what kind of brands should join Myntra and why?
JG: Myntra is the preferred platform for 450+ leading international brands like Mango, H&M, Boohoo, New Balance, Anne Klein, and Dorothy Perkins, among others. With a thriving GenZ and millennial shopper base keen on global trends, Myntra caters to the world’s third-largest digital purchasing market in India. We focus on onboarding international brands that resonate with India’s discerning shoppers and offer unique product propositions. As we continue to scale our international brand portfolio, we are aiming to ramp up our roster of global brands to cater to diverse customer niches and needs.

LC: Technology is a pillar to engage, educate, and sell to today’s consumers: how tech savvy would you describe the Indian shopper vs the Western and Chinese ones? What are the tech tools you offer to Myntra’s shoppers? 
JG: Myntra offers a range of innovative features to tech-savvy Indian shoppers to streamline the shopping experience. This includes MyFashionGPT, My Stylist, and Vernacular Search to shop in 10+ native languages. Additionally, we also have AI Skin Analyzer, Virtual Try-Ons, and Product Finder. Our social commerce charter is on track to reach approximately 1 billion impressions by year-end. These features and initiatives reflect the indispensable role of visual content in the online fashion, beauty, and lifestyle ecosystem.

LC: Last year, Amazon and Flipkart launched their metaverse for Diwali (Metaworld and FireDrops : how do you apprehend the metaverse- do you have a dedicated structure like Flipkart Labs? what’s your strategy?
JG: At the heart of Myntra is technology, and we consistently innovate to keep pace with the tech landscape. We see the Metaverse more from the lens of our customers, with a dedicated focus on creating a seamless shopping interface, led by generative AI. In that pursuit, we introduced Maya, the first virtual fashion influencer by an e-commerce platform in the country, to connect with our GenZ audience. As a part of our in-house squad of creators, Maya serves as a unique representative of FWD, the platform’s differentiated shopping experience designed to meet the evolving needs of GenZ customers. Diving headfirst into the future with Maya has allowed us to forge synergies and discover effective digital possibilities. 

LC: Diwali is just around the corner: what are the plans, what do you expect?
JG: We anticipate another successful Diwali based on the feelers of the recent Big Fashion Festival. With around 460 million customer visits and 42% demand from tier 2-3+ regions, the marquee festive event performed well with shoppers. FWD, our trend-first fashion proposition for the GenZ, also saw a 2.5X rise in demand from shoppers. Premiumization drove demand for international brands like Mango, Boohoo, H&M, and Dorothy Perkins. Additionally, exclusive festive launches from global brands like Mango also catered to Indian shoppers’ desire for trendy party wear this festive season.