Elevating luxury retail

Meethi Surana, the Marketing and Branding Strategist at Raj Diamonds, Bengaluru, identified a key challenge in enhancing the customer experience within their luxury jewellery retail space. Drawing on her expertise in Luxury Brand Management from Regent’s University and LVMH, she shares how she led initiatives to conduct personalised consultations prior to showroom appointments, enabling greater focus and attention for their HNI clientele

TRIGGER
As the newest generation to join the family business, I identified a significant opportunity to enhance our jewellery retail experience while actively engaging with customers. The high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) and renowned figures among our patrons increasingly sought at-home services due to their public personas. However, this limited their options, as they could not fully appreciate the breadth of our creations from the comfort of their homes. Our traditional store layout, with its mass displays and open floor plan, fell short of meeting our clients’ expectations for a more private and sophisticated shopping experience.

EXECUTION
To address this, we implemented strategic initiatives to revolutionise our retail approach. We introduced a system for personalised pre-appointment consultations, conducting detailed telephonic conversations to understand our clients’ preferences and synchronise selections accordingly. One of our four branches operates entirely by appointment, ensuring a 100 per cent turnout from clients as per schedule. Additionally, we renovated our other stores to include intimate viewing rooms. Although this deviated from our standard model, it emphasised premium hospitality, particularly with the introduction of private bridal suites.

“We observed a 100 per cent increase in conversion rates, with the number of HNI clients doubling at our refurbished stores”

– Meethi Surana, Marketing and Branding Strategist Raj Diamonds, Bengaluru

RESULT
Our efforts ensured that our HNI clients received the discretion and comfort they sought while purchasing our exclusive collections. This established new benchmarks and delivered remarkable outcomes in client satisfaction and retail staff efficiency. We also observed a 100 per cent increase in conversion rates, with the number of HNI clients doubling at our refurbished stores, as we catered to 95 per cent of appointment requests. For the remaining 5 per cent, we presented similar designs and took orders based on their preferences. The experience we offer also attracts foreign customers alongside our high-profile clients, who take great pride in introducing Raj Diamonds as a one-stop destination for wedding trousseaus or exquisite diamond jewellery to their close circles. The success we have achieved demonstrates that modern luxury retail is not merely about the product—it is about crafting an exclusive experience that values clients’ time and privacy while meeting their requirements.

As told to Mohini Pradhan