A FedEx doorstep delivery boost for Gujarat’s ailing diamond industry

The decision to partner with FedEx was taken at a webinar by the GJEPC Gujarat Regional Office in Surat with over 200 diamond and jewellery businessmen and retailers across the state

Surat: Come next week, a customer from anywhere in the world can order diamonds and jewellery from manufacturers in Surat and have it delivered at their doorstep, with all guarantees in place via e-commerce and transportation company FedEx Corporation.

The door-to-door sale from Gujarat has been facilitated by the Gem & Jewellery Export Council (GJEPC), the apex body to promote exports of gems and jewellery in India, that has partnered with the American multinational. To begin with, it will launch the pilot project across Gujarat and gradually source from other centres in the country, a team from FedEx said.

The experiment, if successful, will increase the buyer base of the manufacturers and do away with layers between a customer and a seller in the international market, say experts.

“GJEPC is only a facilitator of the entire operation. The operation will be run in such a way that a piece of jewellery or a loose diamond that is placed on the e-commerce site by a trader from Surat or any other Gujarat city can be bought by someone, say a New York resident, by entering into a business deal with the seller. The seller should be a GJEPC member and he/she should first get registered with the FedEx portal to avail the service,” Rajant Wani, Gujarat Assistant Director, GJEPC, told the Indian Express.

For traders, a GJEPC Membership certificate will be one of the mandatory documents to start business with FedEx.

Hemant Pimplikar, MD Sales Executive, FedEx, told the Indian Express, “Services such as the (door-to-door) operation process from the seller to the buyer will be done by FedEx teams. The sender and the receiver have to submit necessary documents for sending parcels for international clearance.” The parcels from Surat or any other part of Gujarat will be collected and delivered to any part of the US and other destinations within seven days.

The charges of transporting a single parcel valued up to $800 will be between Rs  2,000 and Rs 2,500, depending on the weight. The FedEx team will provide the seller with the login and password to the online portal so that they can track the movement of the piece of jewellery.

“There would be a mutual agreement between the buyer and seller on transportation charges. Once the inquiry of the parcel is booked, FedEx team members will collect the parcel from the doorstep of the seller in Surat and load it into the shipment. The parcel will arrive at the destination country and from there, a FedEx team member will collect the parcel and deliver it at the buyer’s doorsteps,” Wani added.

The decision to partner with FedEx was taken at a webinar held Friday by the GJEPC Gujarat Regional Office in Surat with over 200 diamond and jewellery businessmen and retailers across the state to understand the challenges and the way forward to increase exports.

At the webinar, Vijay Mangukiya, Gujarat Regional Chairman, GJEPC, introduced the FedEx services to the attendees. He also assured members that GJEPC is determined to help each individual company reach their export targets and provide full support to cultivate new export avenues.

“The meeting was extremely informative and the queries of the participants will be sorted out by a FedEx team. This will definitely boost the exports of natural and lab grown diamond jewellery articles exported worldwide through online commerce. Earlier, such ecommerce trading was done but there were complaints of delayed delivery and sometimes, even the parcels getting misplaced,” Mangukiya said.

According to Surat-based jewellery exporter Amit Mulani, while they are already using an e-commerce platform to sell jewellery articles, they face issues such as damage to articles. “Sometimes, the buyer returns it, while there have been instances when the article gets misplaced and we have to bear the costs. The webinar sessions of GJEPC with the FedEx team were quite informative. We are quite satisfied,” he said.

India exports gems and jewellery to the US, Hong Kong, UAE, UK, Belgium, Israel, Thailand, Japan, Singapore and other countries. The business has been hit after the US imposed sanctions on the Alrosa mines following the Russia-Ukraine war last year, which reduced import of rough diamonds from this major source.

Courtesy: The Indian Express