Editor's Letter: A Time To Sparkle

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more.”— Oprah Winfrey 

This time of the year is my favourite, not simply because it is the start of the festive season but because it is a time full of love, hope, and good cheer. Steeped in luxury, this season brings with it celebrations and togetherness.  

Marketers, manufacturers of luxury goods and businesses look forward to the festive season as the 45-day spell accounts for nearly a third of their annual business. After a two-year lull in the business environment, consumer sentiments are suddenly at an all-time high. The momentum has been building up since the last two quarters. Take for instance the second quarter (July-September) where the Unified Payment Interface (UPI) clocked over 17.4 billion transactions worth Rs 30.4 trillion, which was a whopping 118 per cent growth in terms of volume and more than a 98 per cent jump in terms of value compared to the second quarter of the last financial year. Marketers are confident that ecommerce transactions will cross the Rs 1 lakh crore mark this festive season. 

Offline sales too are expected to set new records. Carmakers already have bookings for close to a lakh vehicles as of end-September, thanks to a number of new launches in the second quarter. Investments in gold are increasing with every passing day. Home developers are seeing high double-digit growth in new bookings. A proof of the pudding is in the consistently high collections of both direct taxes and Goods and Services Tax (GST). The central bank is taking measures to curb inflation and that could make loans expensive, but taming inflation is certainly the task on hand. 

Overall, the consumer sentiment is buoyant this festive season, which should benefit sales of consumer products and retail, automotive, travel and hospitality. The luxury goods market in particular is set to revive. Experts believe that the luxury market will be worth $419 billion in 2027. Yes, the last two years have been hard for the luxury sector but it also pushed businesses to innovate. Digitisation played a central role in helping luxury brands stay 'front of mind' with the consumer. 

Even as the world opens up and people return to physical spaces, digitisation continues to be a game changer for the sector. Non fungible tokens (NFTs) and gaming, for instance, are gaining popularity and gaming now allows potential buyers to first try NFTs in the virtual world before buying them. As an asset, the authenticity of NFTs are verifiable, which make them more desirable than physical assets in a world laden with counterfeit goods.  Apart from digitisation, the trends driving the luxury market today are personalisation and sustainability, the latter led by a generation sensitive to the environment and ethics.  

In this issue, we strive to capture not just trends, but growth patterns driving the luxury market. We try to fathom brand strategies. We flash the spotlight onto a home-grown beauty brand, Kay Beauty, of actor and beauty entrepreneur, Katrina Kaif. Launched in 2019, in partnership with Nykaa, the brand powered through the pandemic and has been growing steadily, with a presence already in more than 1,600 cities. We talk to Kaif about the ethos and future plans of the brand.  

We hope you enjoy reading this special double issue.  Do write in to us with your feedback.  

Happy festivities.