Amit Maheswari, owner of a gold jewellery shop in suburban Andheri, could let only ten people into his shop at a time due to space constraints. It was Diwali eve. Another twenty-odd people did not mind waiting outside. He provided them chairs and served soft-drinks and snacks too.
Several gold retailers such as Tanishq, TBZ and Gitanjali Gems witnessed a similar situation on the occasion of Dhanteras on Sunday, in spite of higher prices for the yellow metal. The price of .999 gold hovered around Rs 32,000 for ten grams while the standard gold’s price was at Rs 31,000. Last year, the price of gold on Dhanteras was Rs 26,000 for 10 grams.
A few buyers said that they had cut down spending on apparel or consumer durables to buy gold on Dhanteras.
South-based gold retailer Kalyan Jewellers witnessed a 15 per cent volume growth and 40 per cent increase in sales on Dhanteras against last year from across its 42 stores in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.
“People are buying gold without any reservations and the concept of Dhanteras (auspicious day for buying gold) is catching on even in the South. In Kerala, we saw a 20 per cent increase in sale on Dhanteras this time,” said Ramesh Kalyanaraman, Executive Director, Kalyan Jewellers.
The marriage season also explains the surge in purchase of ornaments.
For high-end jewellery retailer TBZ, the volume growth is likely to be more than 20 per cent, which came mostly from ornaments both gold and diamond. “Keeping in mind the marriage season we launched a wedding collection and also a party collection. Besides, we had offers such as 100 per cent off on making charges for diamond and 50 per cent for gold jewellery,” said Kiran Dixit, Head (Marketing), TBZ.
Meanwhile, Ridhisidhi Bullions’ Director Mukesh Kothari said that the firm witnessed a 20-30 per cent value and volume growth for coins.
However, according to Bachharaj Bamalva, Chairman, All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation, about 80 per cent of the total Dhanteras sale came from ornaments for the retailers.
“Many bought for a simple reason fearing the prices will rally further. Social security and wealth creation were other factors that led to high ticket purchases this year,” he added.