Mumbai: After a prolonged period of lockdown spanning over 45 days, sections of India’s retail jewellery industry began to reopen as restrictions were partially lifted in certain parts of the country. The move comes as a relief to the trade which has lost significant business during the closure which commenced on March 24, 2020.
Many pan-India large retail chains such as Tanishq, Senco Gold & Diamonds, Kalyan Jewellers and others announced reopening of a limited number of stores in some states, while in other parts, single, smaller standalone stores were allowed to reopen, but large showrooms with central air conditioning were denied permission.
Tanishq said it planned to open its network of 328 stores across the country in phases with the first 50 starting to function from May 10 after ensuring compliance with all rules and regulations announced by the government and implementing the norms in its a ‘Gold Standard’ safety e-book for the safety and well-being of customers and employees.
In a statement issued by parent company Titan, CEO of jewellery division at Titan Company Ajoy Chawla said, “We are reopening our stores in a phased manner because each store has to pass an eligibility test prior to re-commencing operations. This is to ensure each store is 100 per cent prepared to manage the store, staff and customers.”
On its part, Senco, which has a significant presence in East India said it would commence operations at 11 stores across green and orange zones in four states – West Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Karnataka – where it has received clearance from the government. The stores will follow all suggested safety instructions, the company said in a statement.
Suvankar Sen, Executive Director, Senco Gold and Diamonds said, “We are ensuring contact-less shopping experience by using new age technology and emphasizing on digital payments.”
The brand’s “Safe Hygienic Atmosphere at stores” initiative includes sanitizing entire stores including lifts at standard intervals; regular temperature check of employees as well as customers at entry gate; ensuring employees are equipped with hand gloves, face masks, and head shields in assisting customers while maintaining social distancing norms; delivering sterilized and sanitized jewellery to customers; ensuring sanitization of jewellery after every display to customers and encouraging digital payments including sanitizing cards with customers’ approval after use.
While virtual jewellery trial rooms have also been installed at select stores where customers can try out the jewellery virtually while choosing from multiple options, the brand is also promoting its ecommerce platform for shopping and advising customers to do their first round of selection with the help of the e-catalog prior visiting the store. On-call assistance by customer support team will be available to help the customers while shopping online, Senco added.
Kalyan Jewellers meanwhile said it has started with reopening of 10 showrooms in the first phase across three states – Karnataka, Odisha and Assam – and one Union Territory – Puducherry – which fall in green zones. The company has already started operations in the Middle East, with the re-opening of 9 standalone showrooms in UAE and 3 showrooms in Qatar, since the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, last week, it said.
“As the lockdown in these countries, coincided with the peak purchase and wedding season, we are expecting the pent up demand for gold to resume, once the lockdown is lifted and the markets open, ” said T S Kalyanaraman, Chairman and Managing Director, Kalyan Jewellers.
In parts of Tamil Nadu, while big showrooms with centralised air conditioning were denied permission to open, some of the smaller jewellery outlets in select urban and rural areas were allowed to start business.
However, in an interview to the media, Anantha Padmanaban, Chairman, All India Gem & Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) said that while it may take a couple of months at least for normalcy to return, the fact that many artisans have returned to their villages means that there are only stocks from prior lock-down period available. The karigars are not expected to return for at least another 30-45 days depending on the extent to which the spread of the coronavirus is controlled.
