As fast fashion has become a norm in the high-street segment the trends are changing at a rapid pace and brands are working towards introducing fashionable and Instagram worthy designs.
– By Sandeep Goenka, Chief Operating Officer, Bagzone Lifestyles Pvt Ltd
With the inception of brands, Indian handbag industry has changed dramatically. From a majorly unorganised segment, it now witnesses consumers shopping for branded high-street labels. Many factors like increase in the number of working women; exposure through internet; rise in personal disposal income; e-commerce platforms, delivering across the nation have contributed to the growth of the industry. Today’s consumers are more aware about the trends and are well exposed to them. In other words, they have accepted handbags as a lifestyle product.
As fast fashion has become a norm in the high-street segment, the trends are changing at a rapid pace and brands are working towards introducing fashionable and Instagram worthy designs, even the design team at Lavie has been working to bring the latest fashion styles to the customers. We fuse these trending designs with utility factors to appeal to the Indian audience. In addition to design, we also work quite hard on the pricing front to make the brand accessible to a larger set of customers to increase our volume in sales.
But to make a brand visible is a greater challenge, and the most significant means for Lavie has been celebrity endorsement through a brand ambassador. This is a trend adopted by most brands or was prevalent in the year 2018. The first Lavie campaign was launched with Kareena Kapoor in a humorous take on a woman’s fickleness while shopping. To appeal to the younger audience, the Fickle is Fun campaign was launched with a very catchy tune shot in the beautiful landscape of Cape Town, after which Kangana Ranaut was announced as the brand ambassador. The current brand ambassador Anushka Sharma does a fun TVC with pop colour bags and happy movements. Lavie has always been a celebrity brand, it has seen more actresses like Nargis Fakhri, Disha Patani and Sonakshi Sinha pose with the trendy handbags.
Such measure is highly crucial at a time when the industry is becoming very competitive with rigorous marketing strategies from the key handbag brands, competing for the market share and brand awareness. In addition to the struggle to gain market share, brands are trying to capture digital presence as well considering the sales share increasing through e-commerce.
Digital marketing is playing a key role in today’s growth strategies, with social media being an easily accessible and convenient platform to reach and interact with customers directly. A significant budget from the marketing is being allocated to digital promotions; this is becoming a common practise not only in handbag industry but across lifestyle industry, considering the significant fact that more than 40% sales is generated from e-commerce platforms.
Additionally, brands have been associating and collaborating with influencers to mark the presence on social media platforms and to create relatable content for the audience. Platforms like Facebook and Instagram are making posts shop able which helps in driving sales. Also, building a strong website has become an integral part of marketing and branding.
