Bulgari CEO eyes India for growth as China luxury demand weakens

LVMH-owned jeweller Bulgari is looking to India to mitigate the effects of faltering luxury demand in China amid an economic slowdown.

Bulgari is expanding its footprint in India to take advantage of strong growth and favourable demographics, Bulgari chief executive officer Jean-Christophe Babin said. The brand’s website lists 13 boutiques or official retailers in India.

“We see more luxury to come in the coming months or years, which will propel India, if not in the top three, but probably to the top five or top eight market worldwide,” Babin said.

Global luxury giants from LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton to Kering saw their sales in China slump in the first nine months of this year as the economy struggled to recover from a housing crisis.

Bulgari will enhance its e-commerce presence in China in the next two years to reach more luxury clients in smaller cities instead of opening new physical stores, he said. The country’s oversupply of real estate and excess manufacturing capacity could take several years to be absorbed before the economy bounces back, he added.

US president-elect Donald Trump’s threat to impose new tariffs on China creates additional uncertainty over the economy. Babin said, however, that he sees little impact on the luxury sector, as most fashion goods imported into China come from European countries such as France and Italy.

Babin downplayed the luxury industry’s slowdown, saying this year’s relative weakness is due in part to comparisons against an unusually strong 2023, when demand was fuelled by consumer savings built up during the Covid-19 lockdown years. BLOOMBERG

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