Design Creation

        India's Top Ten Best Known Jewellery Brands

What Did Women Really Buy?
An interesting question is whether there is a difference in what women consider as India's best brands and what they finally opt for. Quite naturally, price structure and affordability are in conflict with aspirations. However, there has been little or no difference observed in our target group in their choices. This may be because most jewellery brands have a varied price range that caters to women belonging to different segments of society. Even in a high-profile brand at least a few lines are made affordable to most people. Thus, the toppers in the best known category come up trumps even here
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What Do Women Intend to Buy in the Next Six Months
13 per cent of the target group did not have any intention of buying jewellery in the next six months to a year. The good news for the Jaipur-based jewellery manufacturer is that nearly 12 per cent of women are looking seriously at coloured gemstones. Diamond jewellery is doing well with its branding exercise as 31 per cent are planning to go in for this category. Gold lovers take the lead with 43 per cent.

What Woman Want
While Tanishq and a few other regulars do occupy women's mindspace, the good news for other brands is that women are not unduly influenced by the aspirational longings of their hearts. A long history of fascination for the yellow metal as a status symbol and as an instrument of security and its easy convertibility to cash has most women, both working and non-working, picking up gold jewellery without precious stones as their most preferred jewellery. With the economy moving upwards and income levels increasing, gold consumption in India is showing tremendous growth. WGC reports that there has already been a 50 per cent increase in the first half of 2005 over the same period last year! With established jewellery manufacturers (read brand owners) recognising the everlasting appeal of gold among Indian women, jewellery brands in the future might see more visible usage of gold.

• 22 carat yellow gold jewellery is the most preferred gold jewellery.
• Diamond studded jewellery is the next highly preferred.
• 40 per cent of the working women are willing to try new jewellery outlets.
• 32 per cent of non-working women opt for this too.
  
  

"Transcend the Retail   Experience" The first decade of modern retail in India has been characterised by a shift to new distribution channels including department stores, hypermarkets, supermarkets and specialty stores. Modern retail stores being established in metros, mini-metros and smaller towns are exposing consumers to shopping options like they have never experienced before. The jewellery retail business has transformed from the traditional family jeweller to retail stores selling to the PMEB (professionals, managers, executives and business people) market. This strategic transformation has made competition steep and challenging. Gaining trust and proving quality remain as important, however the time available to demonstrate the same has reduced dramatically. Local jewellery manufacturers and retailers need to restructure their marketing tactics. Retailers need to complement the evolving customer preferences with novel initiatives such as acquiring internationally recognised certifications, which ensure their quality management and operational processes. This trend can be seen globally. For instance - The Quality Jewellers of Singapore Scheme (QJS) is a quality recognition programme for the jewellery industry in Singapore and the BEM certification for retailers is a programme initiated by Rio Tinto Diamonds, India. Business Excellence Model (BEM) an initiative developed by RTD, India has been specifically created for the diamond and jewellery industry. It is relatively easy to compete on product and price, but what will differentiate a successful retail jeweller is its ability to transcend the retail experience from being a doubtful query to a joyful one under the assurance of the internationally recognised certification. Nirupa Bhatt Marketing Director, Rio Tinto Diamonds, India

Where Do Women Buy From?
As constant as their liking for gold, Indian women are totally rooted in the choice of the place from where they buy their jewellery. In this case, the traditional/independent jeweller seems to have no competition at all from the new generation brand stores, malls, etc. But there are changes happening. Working women, the survey points out, are more open to trying out branded and new retail outlets. With an amalgamation between the old and the new marketing strategies, independent/family jewellers have also created indelible brands. Thus, in the final reckoning, most women are brand-conscious and opt either for the ones that are highly visible or those that have been embedded in their buying culture through family association.

When Do Women Buy Jewellery?
If you thought only weddings are big occasions for jewellery purchase, think again. The survey shows that festivals are a big occasion for this event. Of course, women also go on a buying binge when they have any extra cash, such as a bonus, etc. A surprising revelation in the TNS survey is that women also like to buy jewellery the most when they have to attend a wedding! Maybe, young women consider the purchase of jewellery for their wedding is their parents' worry! The other important factor is that (most) Indian women get married only once (!) and hence this expenditure, while remaining high, is curtailed to an once-in-a-life-time experience.

Almost 33 per cent of the women surveyed purchased jewellery once in six months or a year.

How Much Do Woman Spend on Jewellery?
The average annual spend on jewellery is around Rs. 12,000 per individual. Considering that the target group constituted people from SEC A-B, the total spending on gold jewellery can be estimated to be in hundreds of crores of rupees. This is good news for the jewellery sector.

Design Satisfaction
Indian designers can rest easy. A majority of women are quite pleased with the designs available to them. Only a miniscule number have higher expectations.

Price Satisfaction
Brand managers will find this irksome, to be sure. Considering the fact that most Indian manufacturers are bending backwards to create a wide price range to cater to all segments, a large number felt that the prices were not justified. There is an indifference among the majority of women on the price front. But the good news is that many of them did seem to be greatly happy with the prices.