PANJIM: The jewelry business like everything else in Goa has witnessed dramatic change. Earlier family owned businesses had clients over several generations. However today the younger generation is also looking at the large corporate’s who are making their mark in this industry. Goa loves its gold like any other state in the country and its size should not fool anyone.
Kunal Raikar of Laxmi Jewels, Goan jewelers since 1937 felt the market had changed dramatically from the times they first made their mark in the business.
He said “I have been here for five odd years and I can say the consumer is more knowledgeable. He or she knows what they want, they look at other designs, in fact we have people who communicate with us on WhatsApp to keep us posted as to what is it that they are interested in.”
The transaction involving the purchase of gold was about trust. Kunal revealed that Laxmi jewelers had sold gold to several families for the various important occasions they would celebrate. Mothers, daughters and grandmothers had come and purchased gold from them secure in the knowledge that their relationship was based on trust. There were he said people who travelled out of the state and were exposed to much more and were interested in doing business with the national brands that were now in the state.
The business he said was still very stable despite the ban on mining. This he said had resulted in people from that belt dropping demand but still buying gold at reduced quantities.
Asked where he saw this market going he said “I will not be surprised if in the next three years young customers start looking at the designs used by their grandmothers and companies would brand its as classic designs to make it popular”.
Another old jeweler in the business, Ulhas Jewelers of Margoa has adapted to the changing times. Vikram Verlekar, MD said the entry of the national brands had an effect on local jewelers but it was important to adapt and make a mark because the entry of these companies had expanded the market for everyone.
He said “I will say that in the diamond business yes there has certainly been an effect due to the entry of these large entities but as far as gold is concerned the effect has been minimal.”
He said the company was very conscious while marketing itself and he felt it was important for all Goan jewelers to free their thinking so that they could compete.
For those jewelers who have come into the state, it has been an experience.
Aditya Pethe of Waman Hari Pethe was of the opinion that they had much better range than the local jewelers. The big companies who came to Goa he said gave genuine 22 carat gold which was certified by the relevant govt authorities unlike the local jewelers who would usually place their own stamp and sell it.
The national brands were very aggressive in advertising and marketing and had bigger budgets which meant that the entire category was benefiting. The market he said had expanded though he was unable to give an exact figure as to how much gold was being consumed in the state.
According to a industry observe there were easily well over 100 jewelers in the state and if they were selling just 20 kilos of gold a year then one could say that the state was consuming on average 2000 kilos of gold annually though he emphasized it was a very rough guess which could be wrong.
Another big player in the market Tanishq had very strong policies in place which ensured that the paying consumer walked out happy. Murlidhar Kinkar an employee at the store in Panjim said the gold was certified and was 22 carat and they used Iridium and not KDM which was par for the course for several of the local jewelers.
Asked if consumers could be cheated in local shops, he said the possibility was higher because the gold or the diamond was not usually certified. The big brands he said were changing the dynamics of the jewelry market which was estimated at Rs 200 crore.
Perhaps one could say that old family relations may help but one would have to check the veracity of claims made by jewelers before putting down the hard earned cash for that necklace or the bangle.
