Italian luxury fashion house Bulgari saw its best-ever sales performance in India in 2023 and this year looks even better with robust demand for its jewellery products, Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO, told ET in an interview.
Babin said the opening of the Jio World Plaza, a luxury mall in Mumbai, has delivered “very good” results for Bulgari, which rolled out India-inspired creations such as the Mangalsutra and the B.zero1 Kada bracelet.
“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.
Bulgari is planning to grow its presence in India by opening more boutiques in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai. It is also looking to expand its footprint from the current 12 stores in six cities to about 20 stores in at least a dozen cities through multi-brand partners.
Babin however pointed out that the biggest hindrance for luxury brands to expand in the Indian market is the dearth of quality retail space 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 considering an e-commerce play 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.
Noting that the pandemic was tough on India, like some other countries, Babin said normalcy has returned in the past one and a half years.
“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.
