Sales sluggish on Akshaya Tritiya, lightweight items preferred: Jewellers

Jewelery and gold sales remained sluggish on Saturday’s auspicious Akshaya Tritiya day despite heavy footfall in stores as higher prices for the precious metal dampened festive demand, according to jewelers.

Jewelers are forecasting a roughly 10 percent drop in turnover at Akshaya Tritia this year compared to last year. Gold prices have risen about 20 percent since last year, and customers are either making token purchases or buying lightweight jewellery. Akshaya Tritiya day is considered auspicious for buying gold, jewellery, and valuables.

However, with the auspicious occasion spread over two days this year, jewelers are hoping sales will pick up on Sunday.

There has been a steady footfall since morning in retail jewelry stores, however, consumers are mainly turning to lightweight jewelry or 1-2 gram gold coins as a token purchase to mark the festive occasion, the jeweler said.

“We have had positive feedback on the numbers of consumers this year. In fact, the reports from the southern region have been encouraging and people are mostly heading for the purchase of lightweight jewellery, weighing between 2 to 8 grams. The tagging has also been a positive boost,” said Sayam Mehra, President Local Gem and Jewelery Council of India (GJC) of PTI Agency.

He added that due to the high price of gold, there is likely to be a decrease in sales of about 5-7 percent in terms of volume from last year.

Gold prices (24 karat) on Saturday were ruling 60,800 rupees per 10 grams or 61,500 rupees per 10 grams including GST, compared to 50,800 rupees per 10 grams last year.

Somasundaram PR, managing director of the World Gold Council, India, said the increases were very good and the token purchases took place in a celebratory spirit although higher prices continued to act as a damper on volumes.

“The walk-ins are very good and token purchases are happening in the festive spirit although high prices continue to act as a dampener on volumes. There are pockets of signs of increased sales as wedding season approaches. Some jewelers feel consumers are slow to wake up to the possibility A further rise in prices.”

Kolkata-based Suvankar Sen, Managing Director and CEO of Senco Gold and Diamonds in Kolkata, said Akshaya Tritiya is running over two days starting from Saturday and the upcoming summer wedding season is the reason behind the hope of good sales during this period for the jewelers.

“While higher gold prices and recent heatwaves in a few states affected customer footfall during the day, we are seeing increased footfall in the evening. Also for a change this year, we have seen good traffic on our online commerce and digital gold platform.”

He said high gold prices are driving customers to buy affordable “bridal jewellery”, lightweight jewellery, that can be worn every day.

“Reviewing sales since morning and forecasting for two days, we expect 7-10 per cent growth in value over last year and 10 per cent decrease in volume. Since tomorrow is the second day of Akshaya Tritiya which is Sunday, we hope for more Offerings in 137 showrooms nationwide and better sales growth.”

Commtrendz Risk Management Services CEO Gnanasekar Thiagarajan said that due to the high gold price, Hallmark Unique Identification (HUID) demand for gold has been benign.

He added that the gold jewelery retail market is likely to see a 10 percent decline in sales by volume driven by a nearly 20 percent increase in prices over last year.

Former GJC Chairman and Managing Director of NAC Jewelers (Chennai) Anantha Padmanabhan said the situation has been stable since morning and footfalls are up 60 per cent over last year.

“Akshaya Tritiya has been extended to Sunday as well. We expect to get a better picture tomorrow. As of now, given the situation, we expect a significant drop in volume demand from last year as people are yet to adjust to the higher gold prices.”

Uttar Pradesh-based Aisshpra Gems and Jewels Vaibhav Saraf said shop footfall during the morning was good and declined in the afternoon due to the hot weather.

He pointed out, “Consumer turnout rises again towards the evening. People mostly go to buy lightweight items with an average of about 7 grams in this festival. Since Al-Mahra is until tomorrow, we will get a real picture on Sunday.”

Saurabh Gadgil, Chairman and Managing Director of PNG Jewellers, said the weekend was very encouraging and the retail jewelers are expecting good business at Akshaya Tritia.

He added, “People go mainly for weddings as well as light jewelry pieces or everyday wear. We expect foot traffic to remain steady until tomorrow. This year we are seeing a lot of interest in jewelry, especially lightweight pieces.”

De Beers Forevermark Vice President Amit Pratihari said, “On the auspicious occasion of the Akshaya Tritiya, we witnessed a strong footfall. All our partner retailers have received a good response and we have seen strong momentum across the country, particularly in South India, where it is a big festival.”

People are more interested in diamond jewellery, he said, adding, “We have seen a growth of 25-30 per cent in the Akshaya Tritiya and we are optimistic that the strong demand for this ceremonial will continue for the rest of the year.