Mumbai: This festive season, online platforms have offered glittering golden deals, even as shops host sales. Dussehra is the time most plan big purchases, including gold and this time, interestingly, there has been a noticeable shift online, for gold shopping. The shine seems to have worn off the visit to the jewellery store to buy gold.

Now, various social media apps enable one to purchase gold online, offering ‘free home delivery’ and other facilities. But what sets apart the the visit to the jeweller’s store from the convenience of online shopping is the trust factor — the ‘gold factor’ when it comes to purchase of the precious commodity.

“The usual festival rush is evident, but the Dussehra gardi (crowd), which kept the market buzzing the entire day, is not seen this year. It may be due to online platforms providing delivery options,” said Rajesh Mody, a jewellery shop owner at Zaveri Bazaar. Mody added, “In fact, we are sure it will not hamper our business because only few people know of the online process. And most of all, we have the winning point, the trust factor and therein lies our monopoly.”

The online-based wallet application Paytm provides cashback offers on purchase of a particular amount and a minimum quantity of gold. The app will apply making, as well as delivery charges on the quantity and type of gold chosen and will deliver the requested product at your doorstep in a matter of days. There is another such app exclusively designed to buy, sell and even store gold and silver securely.

With over 3.7 lakh downloads registered, Augmont App offers a variety of gold and silver jewellery options, in which one’s gold can be transformed into jewellery and have it delivered at one’s doorstep. Sachin Kothari, Director of Augmont App, said buying gold and silver has come a long way over the years. “With the option of home delivery of gold jewellery on the app, we have provided the safest convenience to our patrons.

Customers can also register for monthly systematic investment plans. All the gold and silver purchased by the customers is stored in third-party lockers, which are backed and certified registered services,” he said.Notably, Indian digital buyers skyrocketed from 540 crore in 2014 to a staggering 2,200 crore as on 2018. According to experts, the bullion industry is bullish on the growth as far as digital gold business is concerned.