Omega to expand retail presence in India

Swiss watchmaker Omega plans to expand its footprint in India by adding 3 more brand stores. With this addition, the company will have 8 brand stores by the end of the next year. The watch major has 100 mono-brand stores across the world.

One each in Hyderabad, Kolkata and Delhi will join the list of existing stores in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bangalore. Omega is also available at 52 multi-brand outlets across the country, and the company has no plans to increase this number.

"We expect India to be among our top 5 markets in the next 3-5 years. Indians have a tradition for appreciating quality products, and there is also a strong middle-class that is constantly looking at higher value products," Stephen Urquhart,president of Omega, said. At present, India is ranked between 12th and 15th among the company's markets the world over.

Launched in India in 1998, Omega intends to straddle the middle ground between being a niche product brand and a mass market brand in India.

"While it will still remain an exclusive product, we don't want to position Omega as a niche brand in India. At the same time, it's not intended for the mass market either, there is a middle ground that we are looking at, and half-a-million Indians would fit in this category, today," Urquhart said, adding India and China were expected to be the company's biggest growing markets over the next few years.

The company will invest 10-15% of its turnover from India back in the market, Urquhart said. Omega also announced Bollywood actor Abhishek Bachchan as its brand ambassador for the Indian market.