Bengaluru based Mahalaxmi Jewellers caters to post-lockdown high footfall with optimum inventory

Mahalaxmi Jewellers reopened the stores in the middle of June after the end of the second wave of Covid-19 and a resultant lockdown in Karnataka. Thankfully, the market is responding positively for the jeweller now, as the wedding season is nearing its end. Thus, customers who were eagerly waiting for the store opening, are thronging in large numbers.

This has got to do with the pattern of revenge buying after relaxation of lockdown strictures. Generally, customers purchase jewellery during Akshay Tritiya and Ugadi in the jeweller’s region, but due to the subsequent lockdown from the last two years, customers are buying after reopening of the stores.

Rakesh Mailapur, CEO, Mahalaxmi Jewellers, Bengaluru said, “Due to the marriage season in South India, most of the sales happened in wedding-related jewellery. However, we have also seen close to 30% of customers buying daily wear jewellery in plain gold such as small chains, rings, mangalsutras, etc.”

The second lockdown gave the brand a chance to rectify its strategic response to the unforeseen first lockdown. According to Rakesh, he was expecting a good response from the customers, as he saw good footfalls after the store opening last year. The only difference in the jeweller’s response this year is the presence of enough stock in the inventory.

“Last year, it was a sudden lockdown and thus we didn’t get much time to build a balanced stock to meet the post-lockdown requirement,” explained Rakesh, adding that the brand hesitated to stock jewellery during the lockdown, as they didn’t know the demand pattern after markets reopen. “Our focus was also on maintaining cash reserves as we didn’t know what would happen after reopening. We learnt an important lesson to maintain an optimum stock and worked accordingly this year,” Rakesh said.

Written by Manoj Chakraborty

RJ exclusive