Bulgari, the Italian luxury fashion house, saw its best-ever sales performance in India in 2023, according to CEO Jean-Christophe Babin in a recent interview. This year shows even more promise, with robust demand for its jewellery products driving growth.
Babin noted that the launch of the Jio World Plaza, a luxury mall in Mumbai, has yielded “very good” outcomes for Bulgari. The brand introduced India-inspired creations like the Mangalsutra and the B.zero1 Kada bracelet, which have been well-received.
“While Indians love our Serpenti watch, we have thought of creating jewellery that resonates better with Indian hearts. Indians are deeply rooted in their tradition and culture,” Babin said.
“We are probably the only global jeweller to have Indian products such as the Mangalsutra and the Kada. The Mangalsutra got sold extremely quickly. Now we have had to re-manufacture it. But it’s always sold out at the stores. It’s always on waiting lists. We are also selling this to non-Indians because they see the beautiful aesthetic from Bulgari. The kada was created for Indians, as we see a strong tradition of men wearing jewellery here, but we think it will be a success outside India too,” he added.
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Bulgari aims to expand its footprint in India by establishing additional boutiques in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai. The brand also intends to broaden its reach from the existing 12 stores across six cities to approximately 20 stores spanning at least a dozen cities, utilizing multi-brand partnerships.
However, Babin highlighted that the primary obstacle for luxury brands seeking to expand in the Indian market is the scarcity of high-quality retail space, particularly in the form of luxury malls.
“Today, the main issue is the landlords. If we manage to convince them that western luxury brands can generate important additional revenues, jobs and tax revenue for the government, then there are no limits,” he said.
“I mean, if I were a top landlord in India, I would try to engage with more luxury brands in order to open at least one mall in each of the top 10 cities of India, considering the size of India. India has a huge upside and potential as long as we can provide more shelter to luxury brands here,” he said.
Bulgari is also exploring the possibility of entering the e-commerce market in the country.
“We are also considering some partnerships with Ethos for instance, because Ethos has a very, very well-organised supply chain when it comes to e-commerce. We won’t build 200 boutiques in India,” said Babin.
“So this is important. We have to complement the brick-and-mortar network together with touch points which are digital. So, our website is one but we can also partner with others. We are partnering with a platform in China for instance,” he added.
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Acknowledging that the pandemic presented challenges for India, as it did for several other nations, Babin remarked that a semblance of normalcy has been restored over the past eighteen months.
“We can feel a really strong desirability for Bulgari among Indians. It is related, obviously, to some specific products. But I also think the style of the brand itself is magnificent, and the fit between Bulgari jewellery and India is probably the best fit between any European jeweller and the Indian culture,” he said.
“India has always worshipped coloured stones, and not only diamonds. In some other countries, it’s diamonds only. We do both. So that’s great. Look at the Indian monuments such as the Taj Mahal, it’s magnificent, it’s huge, like our jewellery which is also pretty bold. We like big stones, contrasts, colours and emotions, and all these characteristics are very Indian. So, I’m pretty sure that getting to the right location, the right retailing, borrowing from the Indian culture some symbols which can resonate very well with our customers, and expanding our presence and our awareness will create for Bulgari a very, very big opportunity here,” he added.
