HYDERABAD: After a gloomy Dhanteras 2020 brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, jewellers are gearing up for a dazzling Dhanteras this time, riding high on the buoyant customer sentiment this year.
“We are seeing very good sales. People are very happy and in a mood to buy. Last year, those who purchased 2-5gm gold coins are lapping up 5-20gm coins this year. We expect at least 20% higher sales than even 2019 Dhanteras,” said an ebullient Pavan Mor, proprietor, Pavan Mor Jewellers, busy juggling customers and queries from TOI.
“The sentiment is so good this festive season that we hope to recover the sales that we lost over the past couple of years,” said an optimistic Darshan Gupta, partner, Mangatrai Jewellers, while grappling with the customer rush a day ahead of Dhanteras.
“Sentiment was down last year due to Covid and floods and the income crunch also was weighing on the minds of people, who had been waiting for a good period. Now the enthusiasm is back to rebuild lives, splurge and enjoy the festival,” he added.
Jewellers pointed out that a key factor boosting this positive sentiment is lower and stable gold rates. “While prices were in the Rs 4,000 per gm range (24k) during Dhanteras 2019, they peaked to around Rs 5,800 per gm during the pandemic but have softened to the Rs 4,800-4,900 per gm range now. Though this is a 20% rise over 2019 prices, it’s still over 15% drop from last year’s peak which is why people are comfortable buying now,” explained Avinash Gupta, director, All India Gems & Jewellery Domestic Council.
Such is the sentiment, Arun Narayan, VP-category, marketing & retail, Tanishq, pointed out, that customers who had stayed away over the past two years are now back to flocking jewellery showrooms this year.
“From around mid-June 2019, gold rates started spiking quite significantly, which is why a lot of customers stayed away. Last year too, gold rates started spiking pre-pandemic and remained high through it, only cooling post August 15 this year. Now prices are more or less in the psychological mark and there is nothing really to spook customers,” explained Narayan of Tanishq.
Agreeing, Sachin Jain, managing director, DeBeers India, said pent up demand is driving sales this year and he is hopeful of a strong run till the first quarter of next year.
