For Signi Jewels, small is big, even when it comes to fine jewellery

“Parag Chheda, Director, Signi Jewels, an online fine jewellery brand, talks about its USP of small and lightweight products that have become popular, how he gains the trust of customers and the delight of instant acceptance across the country”

Building a successful online jewellery brand can be a challenge, but Parag Chheda, Director, Signi Jewels, saw ample opportunity in the market to create and grow his brand, Signi Jewels, three years back. Along with the increasing demand for lightweight daily wear jewellery due to its practicality, people are also opting for convenient means of buying jewellery through the online channel, and it is this insight that Chheda relied on to build Signi Jewels, he tells The Retail Jeweller in a conversation.

 “we are all about lightweight rings, earrings, daily wear and office wear jewellery. We have small-ticket size products. This is also the USP of our jewellery as we stand out for exclusively designing and selling only fine and lightweight products”

EDITED EXCERPTS:

The Retail Jeweller (TRJ): How has Signi Jewels fared since you launched it three years ago?

Parag Chheda (PC): Initially, we did not expect Signi, the online fine jewellery brand from Chheda Jewellers, to do well for at least six months. However, we were surprised when in the first week itself, we got positive response from all across the country. Now, we have clients in Assam, Kolkata, Ludhiana, Jammu & Kashmir and many other parts of India.

TRJ: Why did Chheda Jewellers choose to launch an online-only brand, especially in a high-value purchase space like precious jewellery? How much synergy does Signi Jewels have with Brand Chheda?

PC: We wanted to do something big with Signi Jewels, which is one of our online verticals. Considering how the domestic and global markets offer ample opportunities for jewellery businesses online, we felt comfortable going ahead with the launch of the brand. There were certainly some challenges, such as the missing aspect of touch-and-feel for an online product. However, Signi Jewels is a specialized brand as we are exclusively into lightweight fine jewellery. Hence, it was easy to connect with people and our brand policies were easy to understand.

Moreover, the brand is not a result of trial and error; we were certain that Signi Jewels would do wonders but it turned out to be even better.

TRJ: Being a digital brand, how do you win the trust of your customers? What are the marketing strategies that have effectively worked in creating the brand and the connect with consumers?

PC: Implementing robust policies plays an important role in gaining the trust of customers for an online jewellery brand. For instance, we have a buy-back policy and a return policy, which have been quite well-received by our customers. We haven’t extensively marketed Signi; it was instantly accepted by online jewellery buyers. This came as a surprise, since we did not associate Chheda Jewellers with Signi Jewels. We realized that people in India are open to online jewellery platforms, and that is how, we have been selling a lot of jewellery online.

TRJ: How would you describe buying patterns of precious jewellery online? Has it changed with time?

PC: For low ticket sizes, clients are willing to experiment and go ahead with their purchases. Since Signi is all about small and lightweight products such as rings and earrings, this holds true, and buyers are open to such purchases. 

TRJ: How does a digital brand like yours use technology to offer personalised experiences to precious jewellery customers? In what way does it boost your sales?

PC: Apart from taking care of the product quality, we use 3D technology for designing jewellery, there is no soldering on our products and the finish is as per international standards. This also means that the life of the jewellery is doubled. It takes seven days to manufacture a product and seven days to deliver it, which means that you can get your own design within a couple of weeks.

TRJ: Do you offer CAD designs or actual designs, or both? What is the ratio of CAD to actual designs? What is the weight range and the price range of your jewellery?

PC: We offer 100% CAD designs because a diamond manufacturing product has to go through the CAD channel. We have a majority price range of Rs 12,000 to Rs 20,000 and the maximum goes to Rs 30,000 and above. The weight range of our jewellery is about 2-3 grams.

TRJ: Which age group and regions contribute to the highest demand and sales?

PC: We see a lot of demand from millennials and Gen Z consumers. However, we also have a customer base in the age bracket of 40-50 years. There is plenty of demand from South India, North India, Assam, Kolkata and other places in the East. Surprisingly, the demand is not very high in Maharashtra and Gujarat. A major part of our sales is through repeat orders and references.

TRJ: What makes your brand stand out from other digital brands, especially the ones under the big chain stores?  What is the USP of your jewellery?

PC: Signi is a highly specialized product and we are all about lightweight rings, earrings, daily wear and office wear jewellery. We have small-ticket size products. Chain stores, on the other hand, sell a variety of products. This is also the USP of our jewellery as we stand out for exclusively designing and selling only fine and lightweight products.

TRJ: What are your take-aways from being in this industry as an online-only jewellery brand?

PC: The market is open for everyone, and doing the right things in the right way will take our online brand ahead.