India is becoming more relevant for global luxury industry: Rado Global Chief

Swiss watch maker Rado is bullish on the fast-evolving luxury market in India. For the brand, which enjoys strong brand recall, India is the top market in terms of value. Brand Rado is sold not only through multi-brand premium watch stores but also has a network of about 32 mono-branded stores in India owned by franchise retail partners. The luxury watch maker, which is owned by The Swatch Group, is now also looking at setting up its company-owned and operated mono-brand stores in the country.

Adrian Bosshard, Global CEO, Rado told businessline, “Over the past few years, it is absolutely clear that India is becoming a more and more relevant player for the global luxury industry. With its rising population, increasing education levels, growing economy and affluence, we are seeing strong development of the domestic luxury market in the country. At the same time, with more and more Indians travelling abroad, we are seeing growing demand for our brand even in the travel retail segment. India is the number one market for us.”

“We have strong roots in the country. We have had a unique presence in the country for over 60 years with a strong brand awareness. We have developed a strong network of points of sale and also service infrastructure. Our business has been developed with a strong foundation. This is a big advantage and enables us to outperform in this growing market,” he added.

Expansion plans

Nearly 40 per cent of the sales in India comes from the Rado’s mono-brand boutique stores. “Our aim is to one hand to strengthen collaboration with key retail partners but also open corporate-owned boutiques in the coming months. Therefore we will have both franchise-owned and corporate-owned mono brand boutiques in India,” Bosshard added.

Globally, about 5 per cent of Rado’s business comes from e-commerce channel with the biggest share in the US market.  

Bosshard said that the company’s key priority remains to focus on our brick and mortar stores to be able to offer full-scale brand experience and build strong relationships with consumers. “In India, e-commerce is currently a relatively small part of the business. We have our eyes on it and we will develop it in the future. But it will never be a significant part of the business and serve as an alternative,” he added.