Jewellers expect cupid’s arrow to hit sales mark

Shobha Roy Updated - February 07, 2013 at 08:52 PM.

VALENTINE’S DAY FEVER

‘Attract’ing buyers: Many companies are offering discounts ranging between 10 and 20 per cent to shore up sales. — V. Sreenivasa Murt

This year, Valentine’s Day, apart from seeing hearts sizzle, may also add sparkle to the jewellery industry. Jewellery-makers, during the Valentine’s week, are expecting sales to move up by nearly 15-40 per cent.

According to market sources, an increasingly large number of people stuck with the cupid’s arrow are opting for diamonds, semi-precious stones and light weight gold jewellery for gifting purposes.

“We expect a nearly 30-40 per cent jump in sales 1-2 days prior and post February 14,” Sandeep Kulhalli, Vice-President – Retail and Marketing, Tanishq, said.

Valentine’s Day, which as a concept was restricted to youngsters, is now becoming popular among people in the age group of 20-45.

“Earlier our target audience were youngsters but now even married people look for gifting options on this special day. Customers are increasingly looking at gifting something which is precious and classy but yet affordable,” said Rahul Singh, Marketing Head , GAJA – the jewellery brand of Shree Ganesh Jewellery House Ltd.

New collections

Retailers, on their part, are all set to woo buyers with new collections primarily in the price range of Rs 4,000-Rs 20,000. A number of companies are also offering discounts ranging between 10 and 20 per cent to shore up sales.

“We have designs which are revolving around the concept of Valentine’s Day and are more in the light weight and diamond jewellery segments. There is a lot of impulse buying which happens on that particular day and we offer discounts to further attract such impulsive buyers,” Singh said.

Tanishq, for instance, will present its brand – Mia – as the face of Valentine and will promote it through social media - Twitter and Facebook - to tap the young audience.

This apart, the company also expects strong demand for its new fashion fine jewellery collections under the brand IVA.

“We recently launched this collection and it is perfectly timed for the Valentine’s season which starts picking up in the last week of January. This collection is simple yet sophisticated and hence suits the aspirations of today’s youth,” said Revathi Kant, General Manager, Design, Innovation and Development of Tanishq.

shobha.roy@thehindu.co.in

Published on February 7, 2013 14:27