Experts discuss omni-retail and jewel-tech at RJ Forum 2023

The one-day power-packed event delved into the role of technology adoption and innovation in driving business expansion, motivating manpower, creating consumer experiences and shaping design profitability.

In addition to the knowledge conference, the forum showcased a diverse range of path-breaking technologies and services that promise to aid retail efficiency and growth to a whole new level and celebrated leadership excellence by putting a spotlight on leaders who are effecting change and setting off a new culture of performance across different realms of business in jewellery retail.

Jan 4^th 2023, Mumbai: The Indian Jewellery Retail Industry came together at the 9^th edition of the Retail Jeweller India Forum 2023 on Jan 4^th, 2023, in Mumbai for a deep dive into the new and emerging landscape of retail shaping the industry. The forum presented a truly innovative learning continuum for retail jewellers in India.

The Retail Jeweller Indian Forum is the biggest and only knowledge-sharing platform in the industry that promotes knowledge as a tool for growth alongside presenting new solutions that may drive that growth and bringing to the fore leadership excellence in retail that inspires the industry.

The forum brings together all the stakeholders of retail under one roof to find innovative solutions to traditional methods of business. Over the years, it has earned the reputation for being the premier platform where progressive jewellers convene to exchange ideas, share business insights and deliberate on retail on a macro-level.   The forum is one of the most effective networking platforms where retail jewellery professionals and business owners can meet peers, potential partners and industry leaders.

The day started on a high note with Ankur Bisen, Senior Partner and Head, Consumer, Food and Retail at Technopak Advisors, sharing interesting statistical data highlighting jewellery retail as the third largest contributor to GDP next only to food and apparel and ahead of real estate or pharmaceutical retail. He also spoke about macro shifts in networking and connectivity, telecom and open networks, which will create a new digital interface for jewellery retail to maximise business.

The two headline speakers at the forum, Mithun Sancheti, CEO, CaratLane and Revathi Kant, Chief Design Officer, Tanishq, addressed the audience with powerful presentations.

The tone of the summit was set by Sancheti who, giving an overview of CaratLane’s consumer centricity, mentioned how the brand has been Omni since 2011. He further explained how every business needs to become Omni to stay relevant in future and how businesses need to pre-empt consumer needs. Consumers, he said, “don’t like to ask or escalate queries; they expect solutions and tools that help them self-navigate and self-purchase”. He further explained various features and tools that CaratLane is currently using to make a consumer’s life easy in buying jewellery through Omni-channels.

Kant took the stage to explain the drivers of design that yield both profit and aesthetics at Tanishq. She discussed drawing insights from consumer research and blending them with forthcoming trends before introducing new collections. Talking about the “Color me Joy” collection that popularized fashionable designs in colour gemstones, she said, “ It filled a huge gap in our merchandise offering and created a new and profitable category of goods in our portfolio.”

A spark session unfolded how a technology tool Unlearn is aiding avant-garde measures to record consumer journeys across channels and guiding sales staff to make relevant recommendations to prospective consumers when they come to the store anytime in future. To add to this, the Unlearn team unveiled its latest digital offering titled ‘Trouve’, which enables consumers to search for any product anywhere visually. It promises to take the online shopping experience to a new level and empowers retailers to ensure that Gen Z customers buy impulsively.

Other highlights of the knowledge conference were the special panel discussions on the most successful retail strategies to grow the diamond business. In this session, panellists divulged out-of-the-box strategies such as simulating diamond laboratories at the store to let consumers learn and assess their diamond’s quality and certification, price-point marketing to drive conversions or introducing price–point diamond jewellery next to every gold category counter to build immediacy and choice for first-time buyers.

One of the most keenly awaited panel discussions was the emerging jewel techs in the industry. Panellists animatedly talked about consumer insights and tech solutions that solved many of their existing problems. They discussed technology that allowed for the haggle-free purchase of solitaires, digital enrolment and payment for saving schemes at retail outlets, seamless purchase and return facility from brands that offer multi-channel transactions and even worked on improving the return on investment for brands through a virtual –try-on facility.

In another panel discussion, panellists explored new possibilities for market growth by collaborating with partners who add excellent value to businesses. Panellists agreed that deeper b2b collaborations with brands would lead to new opportunities thus far unexplored.

Another headline panel deliberated on how large retail chains are navigating the road to success and growth in the coming decade. The panel concurred that retailers must look at the business holistically in terms of driving the right product mix, which should be community agnostic, exploring channels of communication that reach a broader audience in multi-languages, localising content and designs to build a stronger association with customers, and creating an expansion strategy that builds greater reach through physical expansion while building omni-access.

The forum saw the participation of many retailers across the country who value knowledge as a tool to enhance business growth. The knowledge forum was held alongside a retail solutions exhibition that showcased handpicked technology and service providers for retail businesses. The forum saw participation from leaders from family businesses and national and regional chains.

The forum encouraged retailers and industry experts to have an open dialogue about the current issues in the industry and draw insights from each other’s experiences.

Mr. Chirag Soni, Director & Co-founder of SGL, one of the main sponsors, said, “SGL is very proud to be associated with The Retail Jeweller India Forum. We have been partnering for this event for 4 years now. The industry is evolving at a fast pace and stakeholders need a platform to share views, and opinions and learn from each other. It is a very unique platform that promotes knowledge as a tool for growth.”

Furthermore, Mr. Parag Shah, Director of KISNA Diamond Jewellery, the other main sponsor for the forum, said, “Kisna is delighted with the association. It is interesting to see jewellers from India convene under one roof to bring positive change in their outlook and business. Kisna set out on a revolutionary path many decades ago and created one of the largest b-2-b diamond jewellery brands in India. We value innovation. The forum’s ideology aligns with our company’s vision to bring change through knowledge, exchange of ideas and collaboration.”

The day ended on a high note with a gala awards night where 20 stalwarts were awarded for their exemplary leadership in driving their businesses to new levels of growth. Nawaz Modi Singhania was the chief guest at the award ceremony.

RJ EXCLUSIVE