It's Celebration Time For Branded Jewellers

Published on 16/09/09

Notwithstanding the soaring gold prices, branded jewellery players are anticipating a good festive season ahead. While the diamond
jewellery segment is picking up faster than gold, leading players, such as the Gitanjali Group, Tanishq and Orra, are hoping for sales growth upwards of 20% over the same period last year.

Last week, gold breached the psychological barrier of $1,000-per ounce (31.13 gm) in the international market and Rs 16,000 per 10 gms in the country. However, industry insiders feel that buyers are now accepting that prices will continue to see further upsides and are no longer postponing their buys in the anticipation that prices will fall.

“We hope to grow by 20% this season,” said Sandeep Kulhalli, vice-president, retail and marketing, Tanishq, which recently launched a special festive contest for the eastern region. “There are signs of a revival and our mood is that of cautious optimism.”

Gitanjali Group’s general manager (marketing) Shardah Uniyal said that they were expecting sales to go up as much as 50% from the corresponding period last year. “Since we operate primarily in the diamond jewellery category, our pricing is MRP-based. Our prices don’t fluctuate and we don’t expect to be affected by the rise in gold prices.”

Orra CEO Vijay Jain was optimistic. “Overall sentiments are extremely positive. People are now not only used to the high gold prices, but are also expecting them to go up further. We are expecting this festive season to be the best in the past couple of years. August sales were much better and we are anticipating a same-store growth of 30-35% this festive season.