With the gold price falling sharply and demand softening, jewellers are adopting innovative methods to attract customers ahead of the forthcoming festival season and Dhanteras. In last 10 days, gold price have plunged as the dollar strengthened against most currencies, pulling down the value of dollar-denominated yellow metal.

In Mumbai, pure gold prices have dipped by ₹1,667 per 10 grams to ₹57,719 last Friday, against ₹59,386 logged on September 20. In MCX, gold for October delivery was down by ₹704 per 10 gram on Friday at ₹57,128, against ₹57,832 on Thursday.

Unlike other commodities, gold jewellery demand slips whenever prices go down, as consumers postpone their purchase to buy the yellow metal at the lowest price.  In bid to attract consumers Senco Gold has come out with an interesting new scheme — flexi gold price offer. Akin to ‘pay today, buy later,’ customers can book gold at the prevailing low price by paying certain advance amount and take delivery of the jewellery on Dhanteras day.

If gold prices fall further on Dhanteras day, consumers get to buy more gold for the same money, and if prices appreciate, they can avail the lower locked-in gold price.

Suvankar Sen, MD& CEO, Senco Gold & Diamonds, told businessline that with Navratri, Dhanteras and Diwali round the corner, gold prices are hovering near six-month low below the ₹60,000 mark, and the company wants to pass on the benefit of lower price to consumers who are waiting to purchase gold jewellery on the day of Dhanteras.

Under the flexi price offer, consumers will benefit when gold prices either fall or appreciate, and they will also get special discount on making charges, he added. Jewellers are also offering 20-25 per cent on diamond jewellery, with the price of diamond falling due to excess supply and fall in exports.

MP Ahammed, Chairman, Malabar Group, said the company is focussed on offering best value for money to customers this festival season by promoting cashback offers with banks and other such initiatives.

“The discretionary spend is expected to rise in the festive season and demand for gold and other precious jewellery should register a strong bounce back,” he added.

Amit Pratihari, Vice-President, De Beers Forevermark, said the demand during this festive season will go up by about 25-30 per cent with South India being a significant driver.

“Consumer buying sentiment particularly for jewellery is highly positive as the wedding season coinciding with the festivities this year and the demand is expected to continue into the new year,” he added.