Jaipur Jewellery Show Begins in India

The ninth edition of Jaipur Jewellery Show (JJS) kicked-off on Friday with only average visitor traffic, but exhibitors are expecting activity to pick up over the weekend. About 450 exhibitors are participating in the event, which runs until December 26.

"Our aim is to promote the domestic industry. This is also a consumer show and so we want to promote more of our Jaipur jewelry, Rajasthani jewelry and then Indian jewelry," said Rajiv Jain, the secretary of the JJS organizing committee and chairman of the Gem & Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC).

Navin Dangi of ND Creation stated that visitor traffic is average since it’s the first day of the show. “We are getting mostly inquiries from retail consumers. Hopefully it will be better in the next two days as we expect visitor traffic to increase in the weekend,” he added.

Sitesh Hirawat, a director at DP Designs, said that visitor traffic is better than last year, but since it is the first day of the show it was unclear how inquiries would convert into actual business. An executive with exhibitor M.B. Sons (I) said, “The response is good from consumers for our jewelry. They have specific needs and it gets easily fulfilled during this kind of show.”

Aditya Kothari of Jaipur-based Daksh Jewellery said that traffic is light today, but that was okay as inquiries are being made and a few sales were also taking place.

JJS, also known as the December show, is considered as the second largest jewelry show in India, according to the organizers, who said 85 percent of the exhibitors are repeat exhibitors. Organizers expect around 25,000 to 30,000 visitors to participate in the show, mostly from various parts of the country. Some visitors are also coming from Thailand and Hong Kong.

The organizers, which promote one gemstone every year in the show, are promoting "Kundan-Meena" this year. Vimal Surana, convener of the organizing committee said that JJS will have “diamond jewelry-Jaipur adds color to it” as the theme for the next two years.

Vikram Merchant, the manager of Rio Tinto Diamonds’ Indian representative office in Mumbai and who inaugurated the show, said that the years ahead will see the emergence of India as a major diamond jewelry consumer and also as a major diamond producing country. He added that no other country in the world has the same potential as India to be a major producer, manufacturer and consumer of diamonds.

''The gifting market offers significant potential for diamond jewelry consumption growth,'' Merchant said.

-Rapaport

India's Luxury Market Likely to Grow 20% Next Year

India's luxury market is likely to grow 20 percent in the year ahead driven by increased digital interaction between retail and consumers, global exposure and brand consciousness, according to the CII-A.T. Kearney Report on Indian luxury. The country is expected to remain insulated from the "impending global downturn" and the investment is likely to continue in the India luxury space, the study said.

The luxury market in India grew 20 percent year on year this past year, reaching $5.8 billion, the report estimated. It noted that jewelry, electronics, cars, stationery, fine dining and travel segments outperformed during the past year, with growth of between 22 percent and 40 percent. The jewelry segment experienced a growth rate of 30 percent due to increasing prices of gold and diamonds.

The report said that apparel and accessories, watches and personal care also recorded good growth of between 24 percent and 30 percent. Only the realty and yachts segments lagged this past year, it added.

The report analyzed that luxury has gone beyond Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore to Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune. Similarly north Mumbai and Gurgaon are two new distinct catchments that have emerged.

However, the key challenge still remains: Effectively reaching the target consumer. It said that talent and infrastructure remains a challenge for the Industry. The regulatory structure has also largely remained unchanged over the past year, with the recent news about 100 percent foreign direct investment (FDI) in single brand retail creating hope amongst global brands.

The report observed that consumers have less reservations towards buying luxury goods than in the past. It also cited price parity with Dubai and Singapore being attempted for goods as the need for ''Indianization'' is being realized by players, and such efforts are visible for the apparel, watches and automobile industries. Retailers and brands are making money at the store level, but now they need to find ways to invest further and gain higher margins. The companies would benefit from choosing smaller store formats and by keeping rent and overhead in check, the report added.
-Rapaport