Luxury shopping is now a click away!

Bedecked with deals, discounts, a style council, cash-on-delivery, EMI schemes and easy returnpolicies, online shopping has offered luxury brands a new platform to engage and entice their customers. Also, not just their clients, but they have even found favourites among celebrities like Kareena Kapoor Khan, Imran Khan and Anushka Sharma.

Swinging successfully between their brick-and-mortar setups and online presence, stores like Kimaya, Le Mill, Turquoise & Gold, Kidology and Ffolio are already reaping the benefits of online shopping.

The most recent to join the bandwagon is Ogaan, the multidesigner wear store, which has completed 25 years and has set up it’s web presence with Ogaan. com. Aashti Bhartia, daughter of fashion designer and Ogaan owner Kavita Bhartia, is forerunning this new venture. “Moving online was a natural progression. It’s a great way for clients to access images of ensembles, before coming to the store. Several international customers also place enquiries. A store experience is important and irreplaceable, but online portals are great for quick buys,” says Aashti.

Image Courtesy: Ogaan

Interestingly, kids’ fashion is now a popular online category and has prompted concept store Kidology to launch their online shopping portal kidology.in. Owned by three friends, Karina Rajpal ,Neha Sachar Mittal and Ankur Mittal, the Delhi-based brand showcases collections fromfashion designers like Gauri & Nainika, Gaurav Gupta, Nandita Basu and Siddhartha Tytler. The portal offers chic miniature versions of kalidar-lehengas, dresses and churidar-kurta-waistcoat combos. “When we started getting enquiries from shoppers in cities where we didn’t have stores, we realised the potential of having our own online portal. Our maximum orders come from NRIs living in the USA, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Within India, there has been a good demand from customers in Bangalore and tier-II and tier-III cities,” says Karina.

Kimaya showcases glamorous Indian ensembles and Western wear on its virtual racks. Turquoise & Gold’s portal sells chic resort wear in the label’s signature style. Le Mill online gives Indians access to indulge in international luxury, by showcasing ensembles and accessories from offbeat yet renowned labels like Alexander Wang, Stella McCartney, 3.1 Phillip Lim and Nina Ricci.

Image Courtesy: RockNShop.com

Another store that has brought worldwide fashion to a mouseclick is Kitsch. The Delhi-based store has recently introduced an haute shopping portal called RockNshop. com. With products for both men and women, the portal includes labels like Marchesa, Oscar de la Renta, Alexander McQueen to Dolce & Gabbana. “The portal is for the time-starved but style-rich consumers,” says owner Priya Sachdev, admitting that touch and feel is always preferred. Yet, she adds, “A portal allows us to supply luxury to pan- India shoppers, who have affordability but no accessibility. You have unlimited virtual space to accommodate more brands. You get away with expensive rentals. There is also cash-on-delivery and an EMI facility for aspirant luxury shoppers.”