Ms. Pallavi Sharma, the visionary Business Director of Platinum Guild International, India (PGI) recently spared some time from her busy schedules to talk to gems2jewellery.com (G2J) about the platinum jewellery growth and PGI’s future business strategy in India. Here are some excerpts:
What targets have you set, as the Business Director of PGI, for Indian markets?
P.S.: Within the cluttered jewellery market in the country, PGI has successfully created an incremental business opportunity for retailers and manufacturers with strategies to acquire new consumers for platinum between 25-40yrs.
Platinum’s business model provides sustainable opportunities for partners as well as a strong return on investment every year.
Platinum has witnessed a strong growth trajectory in H1 2022, surpassing the pre-pandemic levels for our key strategic partners. Keeping that in mind, the upcoming wedding and festive season will allow us to clock in a 50% growth rate.
A unique product and design narrative in our merchandise mix also contribute to our commitment to differentiate ourselves for our discerning consumers. As a result of this unique merchandise mix, retail partners have the opportunity to expand their business.
Furthermore, adding to this incremental growth is platinum’s growing consideration beyond metros. Today, our key retailers have taken platinum across 330+ cities. Both distribution and retail sales are growing in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. We also plan to build new channels and expand platinum’s reach outside metros.
Other key strategic initiatives offering platinum across touchpoints in stores – an initiative aimed at capitalizing on consumer desire for platinum creating opportunities for upselling.
Our focus is not only to grow consideration for the metal in the country but also to meet the needs and aspirations of our current and prospective consumers to own a piece of platinum jewellery or celebrate some of their most cherished moments in life with platinum
What challenges are you facing to meet them?
P.S.: Platinum as a business model requires a focused approach and select strategy – product, training, and experience to ensure consideration and acquisition of platinum among consumers.
Our trade marketing teams ensure that the sales team is trained on how to sell platinum based on both the rational and emotional values of the metal and that the in-store experience is delivered as per the expectation of the consumers. Today, consumers and specifically the young consumers are choosing platinum jewellery to mark important milestones in their lives, they are choosing it as a marker of something precious, valuable and timeless and our teams are making all the efforts to appeal to this segment and their needs.
How do you plan to generate a higher growth rate for platinum jewellery in India? Share some new initiatives to be introduced by PGI India. What are the driving factors responsible for big platinum growth in India?
P.S.: PGI’s consumer marketing and educational programmes are focused on developing awareness and an appreciation for platinum’s unique qualities as a precious metal for fine jewellery
We are continuously building awareness for the metal attributes, propelling more consideration at retail stores through integrated marketing activities, and product innovation for young consumers who might be looking for differentiated offerings
We also collaborate very closely with our strategic partners across the country to provide an impetus to platinum jewellery sales, especially during key periods like the pre-festive and festive seasons through the regional campaigns and in-store activations. This includes design, merchandise mix, marketing, training and education, branding and visibility. Furthermore, our product offerings at accessible price points have also effectively improved our appeal to the consumers.
We have also initiated building platinum bi-metal product offering and visibility across various touch points in key retail partner stores enabling them to upsell from gold to platinum.
To capitalize on the upcoming festive and wedding quarter, we also have successive integrated marketing campaigns planned for all three of our branded categories- Men of Platinum, Platinum EVARA & Platinum Days of Love.
Interview by Suresh Chotai
