Tanishq, Mia to gain from new-age shopping behaviour
Premium- India’s top retailers have devised novel ways to reach shoppers as pandemic-related curbs restrict mobility
New-age jewellery shopping such as online purchases, omni-channel consumption such as selecting designs online and buying products in-store or using assisted shopping methods, could help Tanishq and Mia drive 15% of their business over the next few years, a top executive at jewellery and watch retailer Titan Company Ltd., said.
India’s top retailers have devised novel ways to reach shoppers as pandemic-related curbs restrict mobility. Last year, Tanishq introduced several initiatives such as video calling, endless aisle, virtual jewellery try-on, real-time live assisted chats, and appointment-based shopping. As lockdowns lift, some of these trends have found permanence in the consumer behaviour as they switch between online and offline channels of shopping.
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“These ‘new age’ ways of buying—last year it contributed to about 9% of our total sales (for Tanishq and Mia), which in consumer price terms was about ₹1,600 crore plus which is quite a significant number, from less than 1% in the year before," said Ajoy Chawla, chief executive officer, Titan Jewellery Division.
Chawla said such sales could grow to touch 15% over the next couple of years, driven by increased consumer adoption, convenience, as well as efforts made by the company to push sales both online and offline. “It may not jump from 9% to 15% in one go, it may take maybe two or three years," he added.
The retailer is seeing varied shopping behaviour both online and offline. For those who buy everything online—the ticket size typically rests below Rs50,000. “Then there are those who do omni-channel that is they select online, show interest and then we connect them to a store, the store could do a video call, and it will convert into a sale. Most likely, those are products which are beyond Rs50,000 all the way up to Rs2 lakh to Rs3 lakh. We find that 90% of these customers prefer to complete the final transaction inside the store. Then there's remote shopping which is not enabled by somebody coming online but somebody reaching out to shoppers through WhatsApp, or it could be a phone call," he said.
Retailers are resuming business after weeks of closures as the second severe wave led to state-wide lockdowns. As of Sunday, over 270 Tanishq stores were open across India. More are set to open as states such as Karnataka eased restrictions.
Meanwhile, the retailer said its “digital and remote" shopping playbook is ready.
“We have all the tools available right from online, omni, live chats, WhatsApp, Google My Business, video calling, endless aisle, virtual try-ons, collaborative selling between stores. So, our entire ecosystem of 8,000 people in the stores are trained, in managing these omni conversations. And we've added to that by introducing pay-from-home, as well as home delivery," he said.
Over 8,o00 frontline sales staff across the retailer's network of stores, including those run by franchise partners, are vaccinated with at least a single dose. This includes not just the sale staff but also security and housekeeping, he said.
Meanwhile, a survey by the Retailers’ Association of India said that jewellery retailers pan-India reported a 76% dip in May sales compared to May’19.
Chawla declined to share the impact of the recent lockdowns on the retailer’s second quarter sales but there has been “loss of sales", he said. “This year, we may see pent up demand also, but whether the recovery will be like last year…for whatever it's worth, more people have been impacted, more people have been scarred, there are livelihoods plus lives which have got impacted. We have to see how it shapes up though there are some green shoots," he added.
In Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana, Chhattisgarh that have resumed business, consumer sentiment has been “decent", he said. While in markets such as Maharashtra, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, and those that are re-opening this week, such as Karnataka, the pickup has been slow.
For the quarter ended 31 March 2021, the company’s jewellery division reported revenue growth of 70% albeit on a low base of the same quarter last year. The division recorded standalone revenue of Rs6,397 crore in the fourth quarter.
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