Bangle manufacturer Raia Jewels has tied up with 12 distributors to form a new trading hub, Oro Trading Club (OTC), for retailers at Zaveri Bazaar, the main jewellery market in Mumbai. The trading hub comes at a time when retailers are on a major expansion mode.

Raia, one of the largest machine-made bangle manufacturers, distributes bangles under the Oro brand through 40 distributors to over 1,500 retailers across the country. These retailers will now be able to tap distributors under one roof.

The OTC will have 1,500 sets of hallmarked bangles on display at any given time. It will also showcase over 950 platinum bangles, certified by Platinum Guild International for the first time in India.

platinum sales

The company has a capacity to produce platinum bangles worth Rs 1.5 crore a month and has come out with attractive buyback policy to push platinum sales.

Avinash Pahuja, Director, Raia Jewels, said that Zaveri Bazaar is the main trading centre with at least 400 retailers doing business on a daily basis.

“Given the choice of design, we anticipate about 20 retailers a day at OTC. Moreover, bangles account for 30 per cent of the jewellery sales in India,” he said.

Raia expects sales of Rs 75 crore by end of this fiscal through OTC. Machine-made bangles, which attract lower labour and making charges, are considered an alternate for investment made in gold coins.

The company is also planning to launch a portal for selling bangles online to wholesale jewellers. It has tied up with various courier companies to send consignments to different destinations.

“Currently, jewellers lose 3-4 days visiting us and placing orders manually. We will have all our collection online so that the time on delivery and risk involved can be reduced,” said Pahuja. In a bid to reach more retailers, Raia plans to set up offices in Chennai, Delhi and Gujarat soon, besides opening a manufacturing centre in Dubai in three months.

suresh.iyengar@thehindu.co.in

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