Betting big on the growing Indian premium watch market, Seiko Watch India Pvt Ltd (SWIPL), a 100% subsidiary of Japanese luxury watch maker Seiko Watch Co, is aiming for a 35-40% growth in India. Already having a presence across 55 multi-brand stores in 15 cities, the company is now planning to take the number to 100 stores within a year.
Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of Velatura – special marine collection in Mumbai, Atsushi Kaneko, managing director, Seiko Watch India told FE, ?Today?s Indian consumers are very discerning and they want to own and possess some of the best brands in the world. We have more than 100 different varieties of watches and we want to offer them all to the Indian customers. That?s why we are planning to come up with our own exclusive stores, which would showcase a wide variety of premium watches from Seiko. We would be coming up with at least one exclusive store in the top ten cities of the country in the next few years.?
Seiko brand of watches are currently available across top end multi-brand stores like Just-in-time, Rodeo Drive and Ethos, amongst others. Seiko?s watches are targeted at customers between the age group of 25-40 years. The watches are priced between Rs 6,700 – Rs 1,70,000. However, the majority of them are priced between Rs 12,000 – Rs 30,000.
Kaneko said that the Indian market is still very small and will expand phenomenally. The company may only look at the option of manufacturing, when the market is big to sustain it.
Being a private limited company, Kaneko did not divulge any investment details, but said that the company is spending a significant amount of money on branding and promotions. ?We are spending a significant amount of money on branding and promotions. We want people to know who we are and what we stand for,? he added.
According to industry estimates, the premium and luxury watch market in India is estimated over Rs 600 crore and is growing consistently over 20-25%. Today, it houses some of the premium brands like Tissot, Rado, Omega and Tag Heuer amongst others.
The parent company considers India as a very important market and new launches in India would be in line with the global launches.
Niladri Mazumder, head-marketing and sales, SWIPL, said, ?Our first aim in the initial two years is to set up a brand in India. Worldwide, we are positioned as the market leader in the premium watch segment and we are striving for the same position in India.?
Interestingly, even before the company could launch its operations in India, it had booked 1,020 commercial spots on TV, one month before they announced their presence in India.