Sales hit by jewelers strike: Titan

Tata group firm Titan, which sells jewelery under the Tanishq brand, today said its sales have been hit due to strike by jewelers in protest against the imposition of one per cent excise duty by the government.
"Tanishq is not participating in the strike but many of stores had to be shut down on many occasions across the country due to agitations by striking jewelery associations," the company said in its quarterly updates.
It further added: "The customers walk-ins in the ensuing period have also been poor due to the customer perception that entire industry is on strike due to which the sales performance for the month of March has been affected adversely."

In Q4 of FY 2015-15, Tanishq sales were impacted due to government's new rule which had made permanent account number (PAN) mandatory for all transactions above Rs 2 lakh.
"We are still in the process of estimating the impact of the PAN card rule on our sales and hope to get a better view by Q1 of 2016-17," the company informed.
During the quarter, Titan added seven Tanishq stores and its jewelery division launched its first e-commerce exclusive collection of birthstone jewelery called Uttara.
During the quarter, Titan launched its smart watches under sub-brand "JUXT".
It further added: "While it has been a difficult year for the division (watch) in terms of sales and same store growth, the company has taken a decision to focus for the next two years in investing in the division to revitalise the category.