A fair degree of optimism prevailed as the India International Jewellery Show (IIJS 2016) drew to a close at Mumbai yesterday. Exhibitors across most categories were unanimous in their opinion that India’s premier B2B jewellery show had once again sparked off a turnaround, albeit a cautious one, in a market that has faced many challenges in recent times.

The jewellery business has been slow over the last few months, many exhibitors said, being affected by different factors over different periods. While the overall economic environment hit most consumer segments, the industry had its own specific problems – uncertainities related to diamonds, the prolonged strike against excise, the sudden spurt in gold prices, being some among them.

But the IIJS has helped pushed these into the background and made everyone feel more positive about the upcoming festive season. “This IIJS may have been slightly slower than previous years, but it was good for us and many other gold jewellers too,” said Mansukh Kothari of Vasupati Jewellers, which deals predominantly in gold jewellery. He added that there is a perceptible improvement in demand compared to the recent past, as the industry and consumers adjust to higher gold prices and the new tax regime.

“Companies that innovate and work on unique designs have an edge,” Kothari said, pointing to the slightly smaller and lighter gold necklaces in the various collections on display at his stall.

Aalay Parikh of Uni-Design voiced a similar opinion, stating, “The market has been slow till now, but the response at IIJS has been beyond our expectation.” He did add that the walk-ins were lower than in previous years, but regular clients always visit the show to check out the new offerings.

Parikh said that retailers find the company’s theme-based collections are well received by consumers. “Our designs are elegant, but simple, with some innovations in the crafting and finishing, and are priced in a manner that makes good commercial sense. However, we have to work on attracting the younger buyers too,” he said.

Vijay Chordia at Valentine Jewellery also believed that the show has been “better than expected given the overall situation in the market”.

He elaborated, “Buyers are cautious and orders have been slow till now, but there have been encouraging signs that this in changing. Jewellery is an integral part of Indian culture, but one needs the right product to do well, and at the right price points.”

“Our offerings in diamonds and precious Navratna stones are mainly in the affordable and mid range,” Chordia added, “and consumers find the designs appealing, so they move well in the stores.”

Chordia explains that currently not many retailers are placing huge orders. Often a buyer indicates overall requirements, but actually confirms the orders in smaller phases.

Rajat Talwar of Talwar Jewellers expects that the market will continue to be slow this year and the next. “Sales are low; and there is lower profitability as well,” he opined, saying, “Jewellers therefore have to be prepared to sit on a lot of inventory.”

As the bigger players – whether manufacturers or retailers – are better placed to face this situation, Talwar feels that there will be some consolidation before the pick up starts again.

With a paradigm shift – in the market and consumer demand and behaviour, Talwar had hoped to see more innovation at IIJS. “Many people have the same of similar products that they carried in earlier years.”

Venus Jewel, one of the world’s biggest players in the 1 ct up solitaire diamond segment had a satisfactory IIJS. ”Considering the conditions in the market we were reasonably pleased with the response,” said Keval Sheth, Marketing Executive.

For Venus, which only has company offices in Mumbai and Surat, and does large volumes of online business, IIJS is the ideal meeting place for its Indian clientele. “The direct contact we have here cements the trust and the bond built up through online interaction,” Sheth adds.

The Online Challlenge it ran at the show, where visitors were allowed to study a diamond, shown all its other parameters and asked to guess the clarity, created a buzz and attracted new walk-ins at the stall.

Sheth believes that the industry experiences cycles and though currently it is passing through a slow phase, things would pick up by the start of the festive season.

Creating huge waves of excitement at its stall in the International Loose Diamonds section was Virtual Diamond Boutique, a US company that has recently launched an App-based platform for trading in diamonds.

Tanya Nisguretsky, CEO was ecstatic about the IIJS. ”We have had a very, very good response at the show, and over the first four days there were always long lines of customers waiting to check out our new system.”

She said that though VDB has been marketing itself in India since April, “IIJS has been the perfect place for us to expand in huge leaps”.

Nisguretsky says that about 50 new manufacturers are likely to display their goods on VDB soon, and the number of potential buyers could easily double after the show.

The interactive B2B platform is not only very user-friendly, she explains, it also provides all-new features like finding matches for a selected stone, saving one’s selections and the ability to share details of the stone with a customer, while instantly including the trader’s mark up in the price. Buyers and sellers discover each other online, but can conclude the transaction directly among themselves, she stated.

“Registration is free for the first year, and after that we will charge a reasonable subscription fee,” Nisguretsky says, adding, “The show has given us tremendous exposure in the Indian market.”