Shops in Qatar witnessed an uptick in gold jewellery sales during the Indian festival of ‘Akshaya Tritiya’ on Friday.
The demand was mostly from Indian expatriates who believe that the festival time is the “most auspicious” to buy gold.
Santhosh T V, regional head, Malabar Gold and Diamonds, said that during the festival, gold and diamond jewellery sales increased 10% to 15% compared to last year.
“Around 60% of our customers are Indians and many Indian residents in Qatar helped push our gold sales during the festival. However, other expatriates also took the opportunity to buy gold and diamond jewellery because of the promotions that we have launched,” he said.
With many Indians expected to take their annual leave in May and June, Santhosh said demand for gold and diamond jewellery “is also expected to increase” in the second
quarter of 2017.
“Early indicators suggest robust sales growth leading up to Akshaya Tritiya. Kalyan Jewellers has registered better than expected growth in gold jewellery sales this time round,” said T S Kalyanaraman, chairman and managing director, Kalyan Jewellers.
He added: “Kalyan Jewellers should witness 10% to 15% growth in revenues during this Akshaya Tritiya compared to last year based on present trend of purchases. This has been driven by positive consumer sentiments and demand recovery.
“A buoyant stock market supported by global fundamentals has also resulted in increased deployment to jewellery. We have seen robust increase in all our categories including necklaces and studded jewellery.”
As a new player in the market, he said as a brand, Kalyan Jewellers’ strategy “is to act local rather than having a centralised and uniform product strategy.”
He said, “We create jewellery collections across price points in keeping with the cultural sensibilities of our audiences. This enables us to be seen as a local player. This combined with the brand’s relentless focus on quality, innovation, and transparent pricing makes brand Kalyan a compelling proposition.”
On expansion plans, Kalyanaraman said the company expects to maintain its leadership position in India and expand its distribution network in the GCC.
“Our plan is to enter new markets in the GCC, including Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and strengthen our presence in Qatar where we already have seven showrooms. We are also exploring a potential foray into markets like Singapore and Malaysia in the next couple of years.
“We also plan to make a foray into the e-commerce segment given its potential. Our plan is to double our total number of showrooms to 200 plus from the current 105 over the next three years,” he added.
T S Kalyanaraman, chairman and managing director, Kalyan Jewellers.
