With 10 lakh active customers, and 1 lakh monthly enrolments, Sivakumar R, Assistant General Manager – Business & Strategy Operations, is driving a model where digital contributes 8–10% of sales, backed by ERP transformation, 150+ staff oversight, and a systems-led expansion strategy at Thangamayil.
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You’ve spent over a decade at Thangamayil. How do you describe your role and the scope of responsibility you handle today?
I currently serve as Assistant General Manager for Business & Strategy Operations, and my role spans operations management, digital transformation, and strategic planning. I oversee close to 150 team members across our showrooms, along with new project implementation.
Over the years, I’ve worked across multiple operational streams, building processes that scale, ensuring teams execute at the right time, and aligning operations with organisational goals. Today, that includes traditional retail operations as well as our new digital verticals, including Thangamayil DigiGold, where I manage the end-to-end workflow with IT, marketing, media, and operations integrated under one system.
What does decision-making look like at your level, especially across such diverse operational functions?
All key operational decisions follow a centralised model. Jewellery retail has a complex operations layer — cashiering, showroom controls, budgeting, operational finance, daily process audits. My role is to ensure that each of these streams follows cohesive and traceable processes. Every decision passes through a standardised evaluation system so that we maintain consistency across our stores. This helps us keep operations smooth even as the business expands.
How has your work directly contributed to business growth? Any initiatives that made a measurable impact ?
A major part of my contribution has been creating transparent, easy-to-follow processes across departments and introducing technology that reduces manual effort and improves accuracy. One of the biggest milestones has been transforming Thangamayil DigiGold, which we launched in October 2020. Today, it has crossed 6 million+ downloads, 2,50,000 average daily active users, 10 lakh active customers, 1 lakh customer enrolments every month.
DigiGold alone contributes 8–10% of total sales. Another large initiative is our migration from an 18-year-old internal ERP to SAP, a global ERP solution that we plan to roll out next year. I lead the SAP transformation project, which includes complete business process re-engineering and DPR preparation.
What specific changes powered DigiGold’s success?
During the COVID years, customers needed a safe way to continue gold savings. We built DigiGold as a 360-degree product — completely digital, with no physical intervention. Today, customers save daily, weekly or monthly through UPI, and this shift in behaviour has been remarkable.
The platform handles almost 10 lakh receipt transactions every month, compared to the 1 lakh monthly invoices processed in physical retail. Next year, we expect invoice volume to double to nearly 2 lakh per month, driven largely by DigiGold-linked conversions. We also integrated customer engagement tools, telecalling systems, uninstall tracking, push notifications, and multiple automation layers. All of this keeps customer retention strong.
Has DigiGold also increased walk-ins and store conversions?
Absolutely. Out of the 1 lakh new enrolments the app brings every month, 80% come through digital campaigns on Instagram, Google and YouTube. The remaining 20% comes from our 65 physical stores. Redemption is only possible through physical pickup, which naturally increases store footfall. Our teams then drive renewals and cross-selling during these visits.
Thangamayil has been expanding rapidly. What drives your retail strategy?
Our core strategy is simple: focus on smaller towns and growing cities rather than major metros. Thangamayil is a community-led brand. Customers see us as accessible, trustworthy and local. That positioning works best in emerging markets. In Chennai, we opened seven new stores between February and November, and we have plans to steadily expand to around 30 stores in the city.
Another strength is that our product visibility is not restricted to physical inventory. With our iPad-enabled catalogue access, customers can view products from any showroom, and we fulfil seamlessly without overstocking.
How do you approach technology integration across operations?
Technology is embedded in every layer of our work. We currently use softwares that support app integration, customer engagement, telecalling, ticketing, product movement and uninstall tracking. Our stock-allocation framework has lowered overstocking, improved inventory rotation, and increased store-level availability. Daily data dashboards ensure quicker decisions, tighter controls and consistent execution across locations, translating into stronger sales efficiency and operational discipline.
Where do you see Thangamayil heading in the next three to five years?
Operationally, the next phase is expansion and integration. We plan to open 30 new stores across Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh. SAP implementation will be a three-year transformation, strengthening visibility and finance controls across all functions. With DigiGold, we expect 20–25% of total sales to come from digital conversions.
By Maithili Patange
