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| It's discount season in jewellery mart |
| Dilip Kumar Jha / Mumbai Oct 09, 2009, 00:21 IST |
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 Jewellery makers and gold retailers are pulling out all the stops to bring back customers. The sharp rise in gold prices has meant dwindling sales and so discount offers have gone through the roof.
Gold retailers such as Reliance Money hope to double sales during the festive season between Dussera and Diwali to 200 kg. The company is offering half-a-gram gold coin free on purchase of 10-gram gold coins or bars. On top of that, it is offering 5 per cent discount on prevailing prices. Sudip Bandopadhyay, director and CEO, says he will protect the margins through an exponential growth in sales.
The World Gold Council (WGC) has also tried to attract customers through a lucky draw at its 100-odd partner stores where every purchase worth over Rs 5,000 makes the buyer eligible for a contest to win gold coins. Named the “Great Indian Gold Rush”, the month-long gold mela saw participation of big companies like Tribhovandas Bhimji Zaveri and the public sector Metals and Mineral Trading Corporation.
Diamond jewellery retailers are not far behind. The Gitanjali Group, for example, is offering diamond jewellery at a discount of 15-20 per cent. It owns the popular brand “Damas”. The Mumbai-based Rs 450-crore Goenka Diamond and Jewels is also offering discounts on both its brands — G Wild, a trendy and stylish collection for the youth and “Cerels”, the top-range delicately-designed diamond jewellery.
“This is an industry-wide practice to boost sales, especially in the festive season. Since the festivals coincide with the wedding season, the special offers encourage consumers to spend on jewellery,” said Mehul Choksi, chairman, Gitanjali Gems.
Tanishq, one of the market leaders in retail jewellery sales, is offering a 10 per cent discount on purchases of Rs 2 lakh. Branded as the “Queen of Diamond”, the contest is offering Rs 4 lakh worth of Tanishq-studded jewellery in six regions along with a nationwide prize worth Rs 25 lakh. The total prizes offered in Tanishq’s 117 retail stores across the country are worth Rs 4 crore.
CK Venkatraman, chief operating officer of Jewellery Division, Titan Industries, said, “The erosion in margin because of discounts or prizes is compensated by boost in sales.”
According to an estimate, sales may jump between 50-100 per cent during the festival season with the help of promotional efforts.
Also, the Rs 15-crore promotional campaign by the Gems & Jewellery Exports Promotion Council (GJEPC), the apex body of the gem and jewellery industry set up by the Ministry of Commerce, has successfully attracted consumers towards diamond jewellery from their traditional investment in gold jewellery.
In Surat, India’s largest diamond jewellery manufacturing and exporting centre, retailers are selling jewellery at a discount of up to 50 per cent. Since exports of diamond declined 24 per cent in August, the 11th monthly decline in a row, exporters were sitting on a huge inventory and were therefore finding it difficult to raise the working capital to meet the anticipated rise in demand in the US during Christmas and New Year seasons, said Pravin Nanavati, joint secretary of Gujarat Heera Bourse.
India’s gems and jewellery exports declined to $2.2 billion in August this year as against $2.9 billion in the corresponding month of 2008 due to demand slump in the US and Europe. In the April-August period this year, exports contracted to $9.7 billion from $14.6 billion last fiscal.
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