Raymond Weil will expand India footprint

Swiss luxury watch maker Raymond Weil is all set to expand its footprint in non-metros and smaller towns across India.

The company plans to establish its foothold in cities such as Lucknow, Patna, Bhopal, Jaipur, Surat and Vijaywada to tap the aspirational consumer base.

The company is looking at building shop-in-shops in smaller towns instead of opening exclusive stores. For now, Raymond Weil range is available in 55 outlets in India. The company which sells watches ranging from Rs 45,000 to Rs 8 lakh is also aiming to focus ladies segment which contributes 35 percent to its overall sales in India.

Raymond Weil is among the few luxury watch makers who are active on social networking sites. This is because in metros, more young people are going for luxury watches, and one way of tapping them is on Facebook and Twitter. In fact, Raymond Weil had plans to launch a brand only through the web for the Indian consumers.

Close to 70 percent of the watch market in India is for men. Women are attracted by other luxury items as well like necklaces, bags etc while men in India prefer luxury watches.