Online jewellery sales double this Dhanteras

Online gems and jewellery marketplaces struck gold this Dhanteras, with many claiming 100 per cent growth year- on-year. According to the biggest online jewellery platforms, sale of gold jewellery under ~1 lakh has drastically risen, which has directly helped them in increasing sales.

Demonetisation and changes in the buying patterns of consumers have helped in pushing the online sales. According to industry experts, after the demonetisation the amount and value of gold jewellery being bought has gone down. “Compared to last year, we witnessed a strong spike on and around Dhanteras. Sale of jewellery priced under a lakh has been high. I believe bigticket gold jewellery sale has gone down in the offline market,” said Gaurav Singh Kushwaha, founder and chief executive officer of BlueStone.com.

Many industry insiders also attributed the hike in online sales to discounts that ranged from 10-25 per cent. However, Kushwaha disagreed. “Generally, the discounts range from 10-15 per cent. Offline players such as Tanishq are also giving around 20 per cent discount on making charges. I would not attribute the hike in sales to discounting,” he said. The company has seen almost ~250 crore in gross merchandise value (GMV) this year.

Online wallet major Paytm, which partnered with internationally-accredited refinery MMTC PAMP to launch Paytm Gold on its platform, registered 12x surge in gold sales during Dhanteras. The company saw ~120 crore in sales in the past six months.

The company is also all set to invest ~10 crore in marketing to reach customers in small cities and educate them about the flexibility, security and transparency of buying gold on its platform.