Siddhartha Sacheti,Creative Director & CEO, Jaipur Gems, bets big on digital sales to expand internationally – with the US and the Middle East being his core target markets.
‘Pivot’ became one of the most commonly used words in 2020 as businesses adapted to new ways of working during the pandemic. Jaipur Gems, a Mumbai-based brand with a legacy of nearly 50 years, has been adapting and realigning its focus almost every decade to stay true to the times.
Recently, they not only launched their e-store but also introduced gold-plated jewellery on their website to cater to younger audiences. This enables them to offer a slice of the brand’s rich legacy to millennials. The e-store has also enabled them to reach out to customers across the world making them re-think their store expansion plans for the future.
Siddhartha Sacheti, Creative Director & CEO, Jaipur Gems shares more details about their product and retail strategy post the pandemic.
Could you highlight a few milestones in the brand’s 47-year journey?
Turning 50 years is going to be a big milestone for us. Every 5-10 years, we have taken bold measures. When my father Padam Sacheti started the brand in 1974, we were the first to retail jadau jewellery in Mumbai. Later, we introduced gold jewellery, which we are known for even today.
In mid ’90s, after I came back to Mumbai after earning my jewellery manufacturing degree from Gemological Institute of America (GIA), we launched diamond-studded jewellery. We started our own manufacturing factory. This gave us control over design execution and timelines.
In 2000, when my brother Mithun came back after graduating from GIA, we launched a store in Chennai and made a niche for ourselves in the southern market for our distinctive gold jewellery.
In 2007, my brother founded CaratLane, one of the top online jewellery brands in the county.
In the last 5-10 years, we have pivoted back into gold jewellery. As gold has been going up in value, we have innovated with how it is manufactured. Consumers can find the same look and feel at almost half the weight of what it used to be. This has given us great success.
Today, we are shipping our jewellery to almost every corner of the world where Indians are present.
When did Jaipur Gems launch its e-store?
We have been dabbling with online sales for a while now, but since our jewellery is at the higher end, we were unsure as most of the jewellery being sold online was in the Rs.20,000 to Rs.50,000 bracket. At the same time, we wanted to have an online presence.
When the pandemic hit us, we realised that if we are not fully present digitally, it is going to be a problem. In one month, we quickly updated most of our inventory online, built our digital team and put systems in place. We made a concerted effort to convert it into sales and we have done well.
People from all over the world are buying our jewellery on the website. The popular price bracket is between Rs.3 lakh and Rs.5 lakh.
Do you plan to expand internationally?
We are currently present in four cities in India, and Dubai is our international headquarters. We plan to go deeper into the Middle East and the US market but the pandemic has changed a lot of things. The way online sales have developed and consumer preferences are unravelling, the next few years will be dominated by a hybrid of online and offline retail. Largely, we are looking to focus a lot of our business online for Indian and international customers.
Jaipur Gems has recently introduced gold-plated silver jewellery. Tell us a little about the rationale behind it.
We found that the new generation is not ‘in love’ with jewellery like the earlier generations. They want lighter pieces that are beautiful and decorative yet don’t need to be looked after too much. This category was missing in the portfolio of Jaipur Gems, so we launched gold-plated silver jewellery exclusively on our e-store. We will be adding extensive collections to this.
You have launched titanium and ceramic collections in the past. How experimental are Indians when it comes to jewellery?
Indians are the most experimental lot. They accept things faster than the others and they also very sharp. They want novelty but they won’t pay a crazy price for it. They have appreciated our ceramic and titanium collections.
Currently, the titanium collection is only available in Dubai. Once the situation gets better and people begin moving about more freely, we will launch the collection in India as well.
Where do you see Jaipur Gems in the next five years?
With every decade, we have tweaked our style while keeping the timelessness of our designs in mind. We will be focusing our energy on where the younger audiences are, which is mainly online. They have a mind of their own. Earlier the client would come to the store, but now the store has to go where the client is.