Very Soon India Will Be Among Top Ten Markets For Lladro

Luxury sculpture brand Lladro is using porcelain as white gold in all their products, the handmade sculptures of leading historical figures and Hindu gods are made in Valencia, Spain.

Today the brand has eight exclusive stores across the country with 10 shop to shop presence and a loyal 9000 customer base.

Lladro’s chief operating officer, Nikhil Lamba said that despite being a luxury brand we witnessed growth during demonetisation. There was a slow down for the brand but it lasted for a very short span.

The brand is growing between 10 to 15 per cent every year, from January 2017 to April 2017 the brand has seen 15 per cent growth. Though there are only 8 exclusive stores across the country, Lladro is not aiming to expand its presence but the brand is bullish about renovating and re-innovating all their stores.

In order to re-innovate, Lladro is introducing premium Chandeliers, Wall Lights and table lamps. The objective is to focus more on utility.

Lamba believes there are two ways to increase sales. One is to sell more to the existing customers and second is to add new customers.

Adding new customers is a bit difficult job for any luxury brand. But the Spanish brand is trying to engage with their existing customers often to sell them more exclusive products. The brand is launching hundred different products every year in order to give various offerings around the globe.

Sharing an example, Nikhil Lamba said, “We have customers who have their own museum at their home with more than 200 pieces of art work.”

Indian Market
On regular intervals, Lladro introduces limited edition of the spirit of India series which fetch them a huge amount of money. Idol of Lord Ganesha and Lakshmi was introduced earlier by Lladro with limited edition costing around 7 lakhs rupees sold out quickly.

Though the brand is doing well in the country but Indian market doesn’t come in the top ten selling countries for the Spanish brand. Indian contribution to the overall sales is around 7 per cent and Lamba is planning to reach the double mark figure soon.

For Lladro, Japan is the number one market followed by the United States of America. A lot of segment within the US are Indian customers. “We have more Indians buying Lladro pieces in the US than buying in India.” He said.

Metro cities drive growth for the luxury brand but recently it is also receiving demands from cities such as Kanpur, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Surat, Pune and Ahmedabad. With growing infrastructure in terms of malls and houses, the brand is expecting higher sales.

When asked, if he is planning to launch exclusive boutique in non-metro cities, Lamba replied, “These non-metro cities will take some time to have exclusive stores. It requires the market potential and infrastructure.”

Lladro sales pick up during wedding and Diwali season. From January to June 40 per cent sales happens and rest 60 per cent sales happen in the second half of the year.

Lladro believes in making everything in-house. More than 1000 employees work in their factory in Spain and create handmade products with the traditional process which takes one year each. The brand produces their own porcelain and creates own colours for all their product.

In order to create awareness, the brand is not opting for full page advertisements in newspapers. Lamba believes that newspaper is a mass product and their stores on finest locations and word of mouth is creating enough awareness for the brand.