Saturday 28 December 2013

Luxe Africa: World Retail Congress Africa 2013.....

Title: Luxury goods are taking off in Africa
Africans are showing an increased appetite for luxury items.


The fact that 250 delegates turned up at the first World Retail Congress Africa says something in itself – retailers are mightily positive about the prospects of growth in Africa. The conference was held in the second week of November in Sandton, Johannesburg.

More than one research company has pointed out that Africans’ appetite for luxury is growing especially fast, and there have been a batch of news stories recently that support these findings.

Just before the conference both Euromonitor and Bain & Company pointed to brands such as clothing marque Ermenegildo Zegna, sports’ car-maker Porsche and handbag seller Louis Vuitton opening stores in parts of Africa. Whether the roads in some of these parts are entirely suitable for low-slung Porsches is another question!

Most of these stores are in South Africa, Morocco or the oil-rich economies of Nigeria and Angola, but there have been some interesting snippets of news recently that support the view that luxury consumption is on the up.

Shoprite’s results published in August included the startling news that the company’s seven stores in Nigeria sold more bottles of Moët & Chandon champagne than all the group’s liquor stores in South Africa combined.

Coty has ended its distribution agreement with South African group AVI. This suggests that the global cosmetics giant wants to be more hands-on in the sales and marketing of its products, a sure sign of a growing market.

Distell’s results for the year to June 2013 included news of a big growth in cider sales in sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa. Cider is a drink associated with the middle-class, an aspirational drink.

Diageo’s decision to start selling smaller bottles of its branded spirits is not directly related to the luxury idea, but shows that brands are keen to help their customers and potential customers move up the value chain – away from unbranded, cheap, liquor, towards small quantities of aspirational brands. Luxury brands will follow, or might be used on special occasions.

Credit/Source: http://www.frontiermarketnetwork.com/article/4572-inside-track-luxury-goods-are-taking-off-in-africa#.Ur8xOsKYZMs

Paulina says: The first 'World Retail Congress Africa' --I wonder who/whom/what brand(s) represented Ghana at this must-event.... I must investigate.... Plus, could Coty be getting ready to do something special in Africa....in 2014????

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