Technology and social media – A potent mix to achieve success

Written by Suneeta Kaul

Vandita Agarwal is the personification of New Age thinking. Getting the hang of new trends, fresh designs, cutting edge technology, new sales techniques, and so forth, is her forte. Armed with a BA (Hons) in Business and Management from the University of Wolverhampton, UK, and having successfully completed a short course in diamonds from the prestigious Gemological Institute of America, she stepped into Sona Chandis – The Diamond Arcade, her family business, in 2017 as Marketing Director. In a conversation with Suneeta Kaul, she talks about the changes she has already brought into the company, and the vision she has for its future.

Trigger

Upon joining the business, one of my first observations was that when customers used to come to shop for jewellery, they would try each piece, wear it, check out how it looked on them, take it off, try another set, and so on. This was very time-consuming, and a lot of effort was wasted in trying on design after design. Moreover, I also realized that the company had no social media presence, which meant that our message was not travelling far enough and was not reaching as many potential customers as it could. I soon realized that we, as a company, had no option but to meet the demands of the digital times in which we exist.

Execution

We live in very competitive times, and if we are able to offer any advantage to customers, howsoever small it may be, it can make all the difference. So, when I saw the amount of time customers were spending on selecting the piece of jewellery they wanted, I decided to speed up the process by implementing the Augmented Reality (AV) technology, which enables customers to try various designs at once.

The other change I brought about is the expansion of our online presence. It is essential for companies to remain abreast of ever-changing customer preferences and be not only aware of, but also prepared for, the influences that shape customer demand. In order to feel the pulse of the customer base, we just have to have an elaborate social media presence. So, I took it upon myself to make a noise about ourselves on digital platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. I also created a website for Sona Chandis, which enabled us to reach our message to any corner of the world.

Besides, I introduced a new gold-purchasing scheme, Swarnim Bhavishya. As per this plan, customers can purchase gold on an attractive EMI basis for 11 months. The 12^th month is free – they do not have to pay the EMI of the 12^th month.

Result

The introduction of AV technology has saved time for our customers, as well as us as a company.  Customers are able to see what various pieces of jewellery will look like on them at one go. They do not have to physically wear each piece to get the feel of it. It also has the intangible benefit of catapulting us into the league of companies that use the latest technology.

Our enhanced social media presence has resulted in far greater visibility for us, and our products. We are able to connect with our target audience in a more effective manner, and our reach has expanded considerably.

The Swarnim Bhavishya scheme, which we marketed through Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has also paid off. Thanks to it, our customer base has increased, and the customer satisfaction levels have also gone up. Through this scheme, we were able to bring in more than 100 new customers within two months. We expect it to continue giving us tangible benefits.

Going forward

As upgradation is the key to success, going forward, I would like to develop an application for Sona Chandis which will enable customers to look up our latest designs and order them from anywhere in India. We also plan to engage in digital marketing of our products in a meaningful way so to acquire more customers and increase our reach in India, as well as globally. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, safety of customers has become very important. So, we will be giving our clients the option of booking virtual appointments so that they can check out our offerings, choose virtually, and then book the products.

Courtesy: Retail Jeweller India News Service.