GJEPC teams up with eBay to unlock India’s digital, B2C export potential

In a landmark development, GJEPC and e-commerce giant eBay signed an MoU that will help Indian manufacturers trade across all 190 countries that it is a part of.

The Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) and e-commerce giant eBay came together on February 25 to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will soon enable all the jewellery clusters under the GJEPC to trade and export using the e-com platform’s improved logistics. In other words, Indian manufacturers will soon be able to milk the B2C e-commerce potential globally.

GJEPC has been working hard with various government departments to open up avenues that will take the gem and jewellery sector to new heights. EBay, on the other hand, with its presence in 190 countries, has the right mechanism to reach every corner of the world.

The MoU was signed digitally by Colin Shah, chairman of GJEPC and Vidmay Naini, country manager of eBayin the presence of Vipul Shah, the vice-chairman of GJEPC, Sabyasachi Ray, executive director of GJEPC and Raunak Raheja and Pavan Ponappa from eBay.

“We have found more than 300 clusters all over India who are ready to export and are in line with the government’s direction towards a digital India, making each districtaatmanirbhar. This is a big step in that direction. Each small taluka can now start exporting their products through the e-commerce giant,” said Ray.

The pandemic has hastened digitisation of the whole world. The Indian economy faced crucial hurdles when the lockdown started. When business resumed, economists recommended aV-shaped recovery. At such a time, it was e-commerce and the digital push that saved the gem and jewellery sector. Most GJEPC members, manufacturers, traders and retailers all over the world adapted very quickly to the new way of trade. Companies like eBay took a leadership in the sector as it is now one of the largest jewellery retailers of the world. It has quietly become a superplayer in the gem and jewellery industry with its wide access. The pandemic accelerated the growth of gems and jewellery in the eBay universe.

Through a short presentation, Colin Shah took the stakeholders through important numbers. In the beginning of the year, only 5-10% of business was online globally,which rose to 25% in just 12 months. “GJEPC is the apex body in our sector in India. We have taken the initiative keeping in mind that this was going to turn extremely important for the business and for all our manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. Internally, when we were brainstorming about what the council can do in the digital journey of a manufacturer, we wanted to be equal to Dubai, even better if possible. We have been working hard with the department of IT, department of commerce, SEZ, DGFT, NSCL, and courier companies. We got great support from the government in ensuring that the cycle of e-commerce, which ensures speed, runs smoothly,” he said.

GJEPC will have a comprehensive e-commerce plan by the end of March or early April, one which takes care of speed and cost. They will create a roster of things to be implemented from the council’s end so that business becomes easy, seamless and grows exponentially. “We have 300 clusters making jewellery with gold, silver, diamonds, platinum and gemstones—engulfing all kinds of craftsmanship. This partnership with eBay will be helpful as all its customers look for something that is nice, compact and priced right,” said Shah.

With customs,GJEPC is working on an SOP for couriers, export and import, and taking care of returns, which is normally a problem for e-commerce. This will be an RMS based clearance, a risk management system that Customs will put in place based on destination, the value of the parcel and other parameters. There will be a fast-track, system-driven process. “We are starting with the SEZs and rolling out to the DTA. There will be door-to-door delivery in 72 hours and the prices will be competitive. For RBI, there will be an automated paperless closure of SB and a regulated bank charge levied on exporters,” said Shah.

On facilitation, GJEPC will set up the marketing catalogue, fast-track procedures which are paperless, faceless and system-driven, 72 hours end-to-end delivery at the buyers doorstep by courier and post, enable SEZ and DTA across the country, take care of logistics — ensure good delivery speeds at lower costs, reimport returns and draft a seamless realisation of export bills. “We want to start export with the USA, and then move on to othermarkets,” said Shah.

“The MoU is a gamechanger for our industry will help us realise the Prime Minister’s dream. It will open up a gateway to the world, enable MSMEs to reach out to customers overseas, achieve the vision of making every district of India a potential export hub for at least one product (One District One Product), realise Vision 2025, which is the gems and jewellery exports reaching $75 billion,” said Shah. “We are KYC compliant, so that will be a good thing for eBay. It will broad-base our exports and eBay will be an archway. I would urge all our members to take advantage of this partnership.”

Under the collaboration, there will be a micro-site on the eBay website— a Made-In-India page —wheresubscribers of eBay marketplace will be put together. The e-commerce giant will promote the products to their gem and jewellery customers and help members get more traction. GJEPC will create awareness across bases. There will be shows and exhibitions to spread awareness and photography education and SKU description programmes for jewellers to succeed in the B2C sector on e-commerce platforms. The council will have a dedicated desk in each of their six offices, where a person will only deal with questions and explain the gamut of things to be done to make this successful. EBay will also offer its basic store subscription, which is $27.95 per month, free of cost for 3 months from the date of registration to GJEPC members.

“I am thankful for the opportunity to bring eBay closer to GJEPC. So far in India, we have not even scratched the surface of B2C jewellery exports. We can exploit that runway. This partnership will give us awareness of the potential and how simple it is to sell to the world. With this partnership, SMEs and jewellery manufacturers will trade with just one click. You will get additional training, inputs as well as handholding. We are actually a playbook for success at a low cost/no cost basis. If we succeed, it will be a serious ‘unlock’ of the export potential that India has,” said Naini.

Vipul Shah proposed the vote of thanks. “GJEPC’s collaboration with eBay is a landmark step towards boosting retail exports of gem and jewellery from India. I am sure this platform will help us expand business and open new opportunities that the sector has still not yet seen. EBay will share information on cross-border trade, such as trends and market studies. This will help us understand different market needs and come up with products as per their tastes,” he said.

Courtesy: Retail Jeweller India News Service