Sliding gold prices and a good bonus doled out by companies have led to a sparkling ‘Dhanteras’ this year. The price of the yellow metal has been falling over the past few months and currently hovers at ₹27,000 per 10 grams, leading to good sales at most retail outlets.

Both offline and online jewellery retailers that BusinessLine spoke to said they witnessed 20 per cent growth this year compared with last year, when gold prices were at ₹30,000 for 10 grams. However, some said that despite the improved economy, sales were not at a record high.

Onset of wedding season Dhanteras marks the start of Diwali. It is followed by the onset of the wedding season next month. Haresh Soni, Chairman, All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation, said that though there was improved consumer sentiment, the year has not yet registered record sales. He further added that 2011-12 witnessed record sales, and gold imports in that year stood at 969 tonnes. Post FY12, however, gold imports have been declining due to regulatory hurdles.

“With the new Government in place, some of the regulatory hurdles have been eased. Now, we expect imports to be at 725 tonnes by the end of this year,’’ he said.

Soni said jewellery sales were up 15 per cent this year, while bullion (gold coin) sales were down 20 per cent. However, other retailers had a different point of view.

Sandeep Kulhalli, VP – Marketing and Retail, Jewellery Division, Titan Company, said the company had performed better during the festival period this year compared to last year. “Gold rates are better this year, and consumer sentiment towards purchasing jewellery is more positive. In addition, we have resumed the sale of gold coins, which added to the overall performance,” he said.

Many e-tailers such as Voylla.com, Caratlane, Bluestone and Snapdeal, too, witnessed a surge in traffic on Tuesday. For Bluestone, the traffic was almost double with 3 million people coming to the website looking for diamond and gold jewellery.

Surge in online traffic Gaurav Kushwaha, Founder, Bluestone, said sales were five-fold higher than last year buoyed by new designs, inventory, cash-back offers and discounts on making charges.

Snapdeal had a 25 per cent cash-back offer on BIS Hallmarked gold coins, 45 per cent off on silver coins, and precious jewellery starting at ₹1,999.

“Some of our key partners are the Shilpa Shetty led-Satyug Gold, Coin Bazaar, Gitanjali, Mutha Bandhu, and Caratlane. We witnessed great demand in the precious jewellery segment today — 10 times the average. We to hope to continue delivering such results for our sellers and brand partners this festival season, and at the same time offer great value to our customers,” the company said.

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