#RJEF2023: Young jewellers decode next-gen innovation, tech and customer retention strategies

The inaugural edition of the Retail Jeweller East Forum had a crop of young talent from the jewellery industry discussing their challenges, innovative measures they have adopted to engage customers, the importance of leveraging technology and staying true to the brand’s vision

Kolkata: Change is the only constant and the jewellery industry is no exception to this rule. The young generation of jewellers today has disrupted old systems to introduce long-term experiential upgrades. The inaugural Retail Jeweller East Forum (RJEF), held on November 21, 2023, in Kolkata, brought together several young jewellers in a panel discussion titled ‘Young jewellers reshape the industry by tackling challenges innovatively’ where they highlighted the transformative measures they have employed in their businesses.

Moderated by Niki Sawansukha, Designer and Principal, Sawansukha Institute of Gemology & Jewellery Design, the participants of the session were Rishu Gupta of Kasturi Jewellers, Patna, Siddharth Bansal of Sagarmal & Sons Jewellers, Patna, Manasvi Soni of L Gopal & Sons Jewellers, Guwahati, Vishal Bamalwa of Nemichand Bamalwa & Sons (J), Kolkata, Mahatwa Soni of Manik Chand & Sons Jewellers, Guwahati, Rozelle Diwan of Diwansons Jewellers, Kolkata, Mohit Prasad of Prasad Jewellers, Rourkela and Yash Agarwal of Aabushan Jewellers, Kolkata.

Hailing from a jewellery family herself, Sawansukha was familiar with the challenges that young entrepreneurs face when initially learning about the business and invited the panelists to talk about changes they had implemented in their respective organizations to tackle the challenges they faced.

The discussion began with Mohit Prasad talking about the impact of weak manpower and migrating labourers in smaller cities, which prompted them to invest in employee welfare programmes and other incentives. Yash Agarwal and Rishu Gupta re-affirmed this sentiment, saying that staff training, delegating and entrusting teams with responsibilities, as well as cultivating hygienic and healthy working environments for kaarigars have encouraged them to stay in the line of trade. “We are empowering our kaarigars with the right education and equipment to urge future generations to sustain interest in their rare craft,” Agarwal said.

The discussion also underscored how leveraging tools such as social media and software can amplify brand visibility and curiosity. Siddharth Bansal explained how the brand leveraged its social media team to create engaging content and increase brand recall value and a sense of familiarity and belonging with its customers. Rozelle Diwan said she collaborated with a platform called ‘e-journey’ to boost diamond sales. Manasvi Soni shared how the brand’s in-store AI screen has enabled clients to virtually browse and try on ornaments from jewellery repositories across the brand’s showrooms in Assam. The panelists shared innovative ideas to accelerate business growth and first-time customer retention. Soni also said that she developed the idea of women associating with their brand to form ‘kitty parties’, and invest small amounts over the course of a year to buy gold, thus promoting a sense of community and self-empowerment.

Offbeat offerings at jewellery showrooms proved to be immensely successful for jewellers. Mahatwa Soni said the brand offered a local phuchkawala’s services at its showroom to hold customers’ attention for longer periods, and thereby, managed to increase ticket prices, while Vishal Bamalwa explained how creating an experience zone with a design catalogue, a mini library, a perfume range and a jewellery repair zone had worked wonders for the brand.

“The young scions of jewellery brands have carefully analysed bottlenecks faced by their previous generations and have demonstrated out-of-the-box thinking to sustain relevance and increase popularity among new prospects and customers”, Sawansukha said.

Written by Harshita Kale

Retail Jeweller India Exclusive