Purchasing trend in jewellery for 2021 has been about living life large. After two years of mental anxiety and challenges, customers want to spend big and invest in heavier pieces. Suvankar Sen, CEO and Executive Director, Senco Gold and Diamonds in an interaction with Moneycontrol, say he expects a good response from buyers to Dhanteras and Diwali sales this year.
The festival is considered as an auspicious occasion for buying gold in India, and with a decline in Covid cases and rapid pace of vaccination, people have started getting back to normalcy, which also augurs well for the jewellery industry, Sen added.
Edited excerpts
Are you seeing any clear trend in terms of consumer preference or choice when it comes to the purchase of jewellery in this festive season?
This year jewellery buying trend has been about living life large. After two years of mental anxiety and challenges, customers want to spend and invest in jewellery for happiness and asset building. We have seen larger pieces of necklaces in gold or diamonds and statement pieces of bangles, earrings, and rings getting sold.
We are also witnessing people buying heavy jewellery, bridal collections for weddings that were kept on hold or postponed because of Covid restrictions. These collections are being sold mainly from physical stores, while lightweight jewellery sales is happening through online channels.
Coins are also doing good business on online platforms. We expect approximately 5% of our total sales will come from online business this Dhanteras. Response to DG Gold, our physical gold platform, is also impressive.
What’s in store for consumers this Diwali? How are you seeing this year panning out in terms of footfall and sales?
On the back of the faster than expected economic recovery, we expect a good response to Dhanteras and Diwali sales. The festival is considered as an auspicious occasion for buying gold in India, and with a decline in covid cases and rapid pace of vaccination, people have started getting back to the normal life which also augurs well for our industry. So overall, we are hopeful of strong festive sales this year. We expect Diwali sales to be 15 percent higher than the pre-covid level.
Also read: Dhanteras 2021: Light jewellery in demand this Diwali: Malabar Gold & Diamonds chairman
Are you undertaking any specific marketing initiative – both offline and online – to boost sales?
We have adopted a strategy for both online and offline sales. People can buy jewellery from the comfort of their homes through video calling or using e-catalogues. Even they can place the order over call and make the payment and get the product delivered to the doorstep. Besides, they can visit our sanitised stores and do shopping.
Millennials who prefer things done online or like to invest in gold digitally can book digital gold on our DG Gold platform. We have started our physical gold business recently and received an overwhelming response in a short period.
To reach out to people, we have appointed actress Kiara Advani as the new brand ambassador this year. We are running campaigns with Advani as well as our other brand ambassador Sourav Ganguly.
Are sales back to pre-COVID levels? If not, by when do you see it reverting to those levels?
As I mentioned, with a decline in Covid cases and increased vaccination, people have started getting back to normal life. These are good indicators for this festive season and the wedding season ahead. Also, I think Euphoria marketing will be a trigger for Dhanteras sales this year. Keeping our fingers crossed that sales will bring a smile to every jeweller this year.
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