Chennai: The day of gold Akshaya Tritiya is celebrated all over the country. On the day, gold sales hit new highs every year as more and more people are getting into the belief that buying gold on this said day, which is also called Akha Teej, will give them endless resources of wealth, for akshaya means ‘eternal’or that which never diminishes.
News Today had a chat with TS Kalyanaraman the chairman and managing director of Kalyan Jewellers to know how important the day stacks up from a business perspective.
Excerpts from his interview-
Q: Could you tell us how much hike in sales is expected this year on Akshaya Tritiya day?
A: Over all, nationally, we are hoping for a 20 per cent to 25 per cent increase in sales this Akshaya Tritiya.
Q: Tell us a bit about the pre-booking programme that was launched recently.
A: At Kalyan Jewellers we have launched the pre-booking programme, through which customers can select and place their jewellery orders in advance, and simply pick it up on Akshaya Tritiya or closer to that date, thus avoiding the rush and long wait. Apart from that, we also have the rate protection offer, which means customers can shop on Akshya Tritiya, but at the value on which they have taken rate protection.
Q: Typically, how much sales surge does Kalyan Jewellers experience, on the day?
A: The pre-booking campaign has found takers. Last week, we also started the rate protection campaign, and we are getting good responses for that as well. We are also running a campaign around reduced marking charges, with a ‘300 Kg gold give away’ offer.
Q: How important is Tamilnadu for the brand?
A: Kalyan Jewellers has a total of 19 showrooms in Tamilnadu, so it is one of our most important markets and we have 30 per cent increase in pre-booking when compared to last year.
Q: How is the Chennai market looking?. Also, tell us how the overall market is stacking up for the year.
A: We have been receiving an extremely positive response from our customers across the country. Chennai is one of our strongest markets with an excellent clientele. We have been able to understand that what works well with our customers and the kind of jewellery they prefer.
Q: Explain to us the revenue and growth for the previous year and expectations for this year.
A: The consolidated revenue for the time period 2018 – 2019 was Rs 9,205 crore. The projected revenue for 2019-2020 is Rs 11,500 crore (approx).
Q: Could you tell us about your overseas operations.
A: We have constantly been expanding our footprint in West Asia over the last few years. We have a total of 34 showrooms in four countries in the Middle East. We are working on our targets and have several expansion plans for the GCC region. We plan to open three more stores in the UAE by the end of this year; and we have plans to open two stores in Kuwait and one in Bahrain.
Q: How many stores is the jewellers planning to open in the coming year?
A: We have opened 18 showrooms in the previous financial year where we targeted to launch showrooms in tier-I and tier-II cities, thereby expanding the brand’s footprint mainly in the northern and eastern States of the country. We have successfully managed to foray into new markets across States like Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam and Chhattisgarh. We are targeting to launch 16 new showrooms in this financial year, out of which 10 will be in India.
Q: How is the trend for gold buying in India? With customers expecting new designs each season, how important is it to keep up with the times?
A: Our customer base is a healthy mix of both young as well as seasoned buyers. While youngsters prefer to buy light weight jewellery like earring, rings or pendants in gold or diamond, more seasoned buyers prefer to buy heavier jewellery that reflect the style of the day. As a jeweller with presence in 103 locations across India, we have our pulse on the market, and our stock and designs get updated every couple of weeks.
| Opponent expectation |
| Jewellery maker Tanishq also stated what their expectations are for the day. Senior vice president, Retail and Marketing, Tanishq, Sandeep Kulhalli, said, “This Akshaya Tritiya, we are expecting a healthy growth and there is an overall positive sentiment. There has been no substantial change in the buying behaviour in spite of the rise in gold prices. Gold coins will continue to see traction this year as well, but there has been a significant increase in the demand for gold jewellery as compared to gold coins. Since the wedding season is on, we are expecting an increase in footfalls at all our stores.” |