Indian fashion brands tap into Valentine's Day's increasing popularity

By

Isabelle Crossley

Published
Feb 12, 2018

As Indians are spending more each year on Valentine’s Day gifts, a large number of fashion retailers are tapping into this market with special collections and sales promotions.

In a recent survey of 2000 Indian consumers by CashKaro.com, 79 percent said that it is important to give a gift on Valentine’s Day. Those in the age group 16 to 24 years also said they will spend an average of 2,000 rupees, 500 more rupees more than other age groups. The 2017 Mastercard survey found that 21 percent of those surveyed planned on buying a Valentine’s gift and would spend around 1,500 rupees showing that the recent economic downturn is not expected to affect spending. An Assocham report in 2015 stated that Valentine’s Day sales grew by 40 percent in 2015 compared to the year before as sales crossed 22,000 crore rupees (approximately 3.3 billion dollars). These surveys show that the Indian Valentine’s Day market has become one to be reckoned with.

However, there are also groups that strongly oppose the increasing popularity of Valentine’s Day, seeing it as an unwelcome influx of western culture. The group Shiv Sena are well known for their extreme protests against the day including threatening retailers that sell holiday themed products. This does not, however, appear to have had an effect on the number of fashion brands looking to cash in on the holiday this year.

Many fashion brands are coming out with Valentine’s Day themed collections which tend to feature the colour red and romantic imagery. Metro Shoes has launched a Valentine’s collection that features red, white, and pink footwear designed for a date night. Mochi shoes have also launched a red and pink special collection with romantic florals for women and formal styles for men. The fashion jewellery brand Carat Lane has come out with a collection of heart themed jewellery as has Loupe Jewellery to name but a few.

Another way that retailers are taking advantage of the holiday is by hosting special sale events. ShopClues is currently running a Valentine’s sale where “gifts for him, her, and singles” have been heavily discounted. India’s two e-commerce giants, Flipkart and Amazon, are both hosting themed sale events and Amazon has 70 percent off “Valentine’s Deals” on an array of items. Valentine’s Day in India has now become one of the main gifting holidays, especially for the younger demographic, and fashion retailers appear more set than ever to capitalise on this trend.