Study of the luxury retail market in India: Market entry and expansion strategy

Abstract

India’s dalliance with luxury goes back to the age of the Maharajas, from the famed diamond necklaces of the Gaekwar monarchs of Baroda commissioned by Cartier to the monogrammed Louis Vuitton suitcases made for the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. India’s economy destabilized by 200 years of British rule soon started reviving, propelled by the 1991 liberalization measures which opened India to foreign investment. With globalization came increasing awareness and luxury was not confined to the highest echelons anymore – it became a symbol of aspiration for the emerging Indian middle class.