Anticipated growth. Bullish for double-digit growth for Tanishq: Jewellery division CEO, Titan

Tata-owned jewellery brand, Tanishq, is aiming for double-digit growth in FY24, with plans to expand its high-value and solitaire segment by 2x and wedding and occasion wear segment by 1.5x, according to Ajoy Chawla, CEO, Jewellery Division, Titan Company Limited. Additionally, the company plans to increase its omnichannel revenue from 6 per cent to 10 per cent, add 40 stores, and expand 25 stores. Tanishq is also planning to increase its presence in the Gulf and Northern American markets this fiscal year.

“Despite global pressures, we are seeing that the India story is working well,” said Chawla, in an interview with businessline. “Customer sentiment is buoyant, notwithstanding inflation. Among our target segment, we are looking at an uptick. The Indian market is picking up in both metro and rural areas.”

Tanishq’s retail network spans more than 240 cities, with over 410 exclusive stores. The brand served 4.8 million customers in the current fiscal year, and Chawla anticipates a significant increase in this number for the next fiscal year.

“We added 32 stores and expanded 25 stores this year,” he said. “So, although we may have opened fewer stores, we have renovated and expanded existing stores to increase display space for our collections. We plan to take a similar approach in FY24, with plans to add 40 stores and expand 25 other stores.”

Growth expectations

“We anticipate a robust double-digit growth in the upcoming fiscal year,” Chawla said. He further delved into the contribution of each segment to the brand’s revenue, stating that the high-value and solitaire segments currently make up 15% of the revenue. He expects this segment to contribute 2x more in the coming fiscal year.

“A trend I am spotting in the industry is premiumisation,” noted Chawla. “We have seen an uptick in ticket sizes, especially in our brand Zoya. The growth in the premium segment, even during Covid-19 and now after that, has been higher than the masses segment, which continues to be hit. So, we see a lot of opportunity in that segment in the coming fiscal.”

According to Chawla, the wedding and occasion wear segment contributes to 25 per cent of revenues, and he expects a 1.5x increase in this segment. “Despite the current gold prices, we see that customers are back to spending on jewellery during the wedding season. Q2 and Q3 FY23 weren’t as expected and were lower than the previous year, but we are optimistic that this segment will pick up.”

Chawla also noted that online and omnichannel sales are expected to contribute 10 per cent of the company’s revenues in FY24, up from 6 percent in FY23. “This number was 1 percent prior to Covid-19,” he explained.

Lab-grown diamonds

The recent budget presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman emphasized the importance of the lab-grown diamonds segment. Chawla explained that currently, the entire manufacturing for lab-grown diamonds is done outside India, with 80 per cent of it in the US. He noted that the cost economics work out when it is a large diamond and in a market where reselling is not a common phenomenon, like in the US, where engagement and bridal collections often have large diamonds, but the reselling market isn’t quite huge.

When asked if Titan would enter into this segment or invest in manufacturing lab-grown diamonds, Chawla said, “In India, jewellery is purchased with the purpose of reselling at some point in time. The market to manufacture and export lab-grown diamonds is good, but we do not have plans to get into that segment of neither manufacturing nor selling products made with these diamonds.”

Courtesy: The Hindu Business Line