As per industry estimates, sales of categories like ethnic wear and wedding wear, gold jewellery and electronic household appliances have declined by 10-20% in FY24 till February as compared to the same period in FY23. However, luxury and premium products bucked the trend of sales decline mirroring the overall trend in consumption, chief executives said.
Competition Heats Up in India s Jewellery Sector businessoffashion.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from businessoffashion.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
This is driven by the fact that daily household inflation is yet to sober down completely impacting consumption amongst masses or people with low-to-mid income levels. Overall consumption in small towns and rural areas is impacted for 6-8 quarters now due to inflation though the rich in these markets are buying, that too premium products. Cash is replacing jewellery and electronic products as wedding gift.
Jewellery brands are scrambling to get new celebrity endorsements, both at the national and regional level, sparking a spike in celebrity fees and stringent terms and conditions. But the demand is skewed in favour of glamour icons.
A senior executive of a prominent jewellery brand, asking not to be identified, said the asking price of big stars is roughly around ₹8 crore a day. "It s becoming unviable for the business. Even at this hefty price, they are reluctant to give more than three days in a year to the brand they are endorsing, won t change costumes more than two times on the day of shooting, and won t work more than eight hours on that day including traffic time."