The UNCUT 2020 Knowledge Series at IIJS Virtual had a seminar on the 2021 Outlook on Diamonds, Gold and Platinum where distinguished members from the industry Sachin Jain of Forevermark, Somasundaram PR of WGC, and Vaishali Banerjee of Platinum Guild International were the panellists. The session was moderated by Samit Bhatta, publisher, The Retail Jeweller magazine. Vaishali Banerjee started with a brief presentation on how PGI is going to rebuild demand starting this October.
Here are some of the pointers shared by them:
• There is likemindedness between different parts of the industry, right from miners to manufacturers, in terms of different kinds of operations. There is openness to work together and see that there is seamless supply in the coming times.
• Supply for every part of the business is consistently growing or getting better.
• Technology is being used and it is giving the insight of what is required on the floor. Everybody is looking at data in a different manner. The industry is looking at supply in a different manner.
• Nobody wants to overburden the market, by oversupply for undersupply. Technology and data will drive it.
• While we shape up 2021, it is built on logic, and it’s built in such a manner so there are not too many ups and downs.
• Hallmarking is something which the industry now should not find reasons to delay. Every time we delay hallmarking, it affects India’s image.
• If you have to play a bigger role in gold, if you have to attract millennials for which hallmarking is important. Once hallmarking is made mandatory, we will find more people entering this segment.
• Fewer and better things… as an offering to consumers and the retail industry. We should be offering something keeping in mind that consumers might look at fewer but better quality items, something more meaningful.
• Meaningfulness – it is not buying a piece of jewellery for the sake of it, not advertising an item of jewellery for the sake of it. It has to hold some meaning… couples and relationships are getting reinvented. Store of value is an important aspect.
• The core role of a category should be to bring joy, a smile on somebody’s face. Platinum consumers are buying because of an experience, because it has meaning. That has been the heart of platinum’s success.
• The positive side effect of Covid is the industry has adapted to the digital platform in a strong manner. Technology will play an important role in sourcing and driving the business and consumer delight.
• Digital is going to democratise every part of this industry. Marketing has to play an important role in driving consumer demand.
• Looking at all the steps taken by the government, I think there is going to be a sharp jump in economic growth in the next two years and that is going to rub off very positively on gold jewellery. If the industry plays it well without having confrontational issues with the government, I think 2021-22 may be a watershed year.