'No other category has a deeper connect to a woman's heart than jewellery'

In the vibrant and diverse landscape of India's jewellery market, where emotional connections and cultural significance intertwine, Indriya, a new venture by Aditya Birla, aims to carve out its niche. With the fine jewellery market estimated at a staggering Rs 7-8 lakh crore annually, the potential for growth is immense, especially as consumer preferences evolve.

In this interview, CMO Shantiswarup Panda shares insights into how Indriya plans to resonate with women, emphasising the brand's commitment to exquisite design and craftsmanship.

Excerpts:

Sreekant Khandekar: The jewellery market in India is huge. Could you give us an overview and also elaborate on the opportunity your company saw?

Shantiswarup Panda: By different estimates, the fine jewellery market – largely gold, diamonds, and precious stones – is Rs 7-8 lakh crore annually. The organised market is made up of some national players, several strong regional players and many well-established city-based players. They make up about 30-35% of the market. A significant portion of this market remains unorganised.

Additionally, what excited us is the trend of consolidation. Social engineering is taking place. Because of job opportunities, people are moving to bigger cities. For them, the concept of the family jeweller doesn’t exist. Who do women among them turn to on milestone occasions such as a wedding? It is the large corporate players.

Sreekant Khandekar: Is the corporate sector expanding faster than the overall market? 

Shantiswarup Panda: The market has been growing at about 14-15% for the last couple of years. The listed companies are growing much faster.

Aspirations are growing, too: because more people are travelling West, they are more exposed to trends there. Hence the demand for diamonds, rubies and emeralds, which become conversation points. This is a more aspirational consumer who wants to buy a higher-value product.

Unlike fashion, there is no standard Indian style in jewellery - it is all hyper-regional.

Sreekant Khandekar: How do you reconcile the desires of this Westernised set with those of the traditional buyers of wedding jewellery?

Shantiswarup Panda: When I say ‘Western influence’, I must qualify that unlike fashion, there is no standard Indian style in jewellery – it is hyper-regional, actually. It is just as in food.

For example, in every socio-culture within Maharashtra, the jewellery choices in Vidharbha vs Konkan vs Marathwada are different. 

According to our research, the wedding or wedding-related jewellery would be about 55-60% of the market in terms of value.

People typically shop between 8 and 10 km of where they live. Purchases are catchment-driven – it’s rarely destination shopping behaviour.

Sreekant Khandekar: On the one hand, you have buyers of wedding jewellery, and on the other, you have big-city migrants whose sensibilities would be very different. 

Shantiswarup Panda: To deal with this, an intense catchment study is undertaken before we finalise a location. People typically shop between 8 and 10 km of where they live. Purchases are catchment-driven – it’s rarely destination shopping behaviour. 

For example, in Mumbai we have a store in Borivali East and another in Borivali West. There are more Gujaratis on the western side, and Maharashtrians predominate in the east. And that influences the different kinds of design that sell in either store. 

Sreekant Khandekar: Based on your website, it would seem you are focused on heavy, expensive wedding jewellery. If this is correct, 60% of the weddings take place in four to six months. What do your stores sell the rest of the time? Also, could you explain how you have positioned Indriya? 

Shantiswarup Panda: We realised that our website would be our visiting card. It tells people who we are. That is why we have adopted a story-telling approach rather than the catalogue route most brands take.

Because we wanted to build the credentials for a completely new brand in a crowded market, we have, by design, displayed the higher-priced pieces prominently. We have to create an impact.

However, if you go deeper into the site, you will now find 5,000-plus products, sorted by category and by occasion. 

We want to be recognised as a jeweller suitable for all occasions and all customer segments, ranging from everyday wear and elevated office attire to gifting needs, as well as wedding-related items and bridal requirements.

And because it is seasonal, we have to develop a fine balance between the two sets of consumers so that it is a year-round business.

Sreekant Khandekar: Talking of different cohorts, you have the wedding jewellery lot, and, on the other, you have women who are looking for everyday or office wear. Can the two meet comfortably in a store? 

Shantiswarup Panda: There's a meeting point because, typically, consumers go to three to four stores for all their needs. The brands that they trust, the brand that they believe has the right prices and assortments – all these factors are extremely important for a shopper in her journey. 

Assortment is very important. ‘Will I be able to choose from 200 rings or 500 earrings if I go to this store?’ That’s the way the customer thinks.

Sreekant Khandekar: If you are up against different brands in different markets, who is your competition?

Shantiswarup Panda: Everyone is our competition. All the listed players, as well as unlisted players who have huge networks, are our competition. Equally, regional players and, sometimes, players who are present in only one or two cities are our competition. Some of them are stronger than national brands in those cities – it is because of their credibility and because they almost feel like they belong to that city. That makes a huge difference.

If we just focused on only the big national or regional players, we would miss a huge trick. In fact, it is important for us to understand what they are doing right, not only in terms of the kind of jewellery and design but also in terms of service and their communication. We are happy to learn from everyone.

More than disadvantages, we have a lot of advantages compared to everybody else. We call it the late entrant blessing. 

Sreekant Khandekar: There are many disadvantages of coming so late into a traditional product category. But you have certain advantages, too, of being able to do things differently. What are those?

Shantiswarup Panda: We thought a lot about this when we were strategising before the launch. I would say that more than disadvantages, we have a lot of advantages compared to everybody else. We call it the late entrant blessing. 

We have studied every aspect of the business by observing all players, from large to small. We have learnt a lot from them.

A lot is happening on the tech side – be it in martech or product cataloguing or in managing inventory or supply chains. We have chosen the latest and best in tech. We can afford to do that because we have a clean slate. 

We call ourselves the New Age Jewellery Company – ‘New Age’, because technology is the backbone of everything that we are doing today. That’s a big advantage.

Sreekant Khandekar: At this stage of the brand journey, what role does online play for such high-value products? Does it impact sales or serve only as an introduction?

Shantiswarup Panda: In this category, almost 80-85% of decision-making of a certain level of what and where you want to buy happens digitally online. So, being online is extremely important for us.

Let’s look at it from the customer’s point of view.  The first point is discoverability, right? What is this brand about? Then let’s say it enters the brand consideration set.

Then they get deeper in the funnel. Suppose they want to buy an earring. Now, they will do a little bit of research on designs. That's why the size of the catalogue is extremely important. That's where the impression of craftsmanship, design, and whether you understand the ethnicity of that consumer shows. 

Our stores are different from those of other brands in several ways. One, they are typically bigger than those of national players. Two, we have a much larger assortment. And three, we have spaces for people to self-browse. Self-browsing allows the customer to explore without feeling obligated to buy. 

Sreekant Khandekar: Interesting idea. Because in jewellery stores, a salesperson is invariably hovering around you. They are probably trying to help, but it does pressure a shopper.

Shantiswarup Panda: Barring exceptions, all our stores will have a bridal lounge. So, we have a private, exclusive space where there are trial rooms. You can get your bridal attire. You can take the jewellery. You can try the look.

Because this is something a bride wants to be 100% sure about. This is her day. She has to feel like a queen on that day. We also have stylists in our stores.

Sreekant Khandekar: Since your stores are larger than those of the competition, will you trade off by having fewer of them?

Shantiswarup Panda: There is no trade-off. We have already committed to getting to 100 stores by the end of this financial year. 

Sreekant Khandekar: What specifically do you expect advertising to achieve for you at this stage?

Shantiswarup Panda: As a brand, we celebrate women's deep love for jewellery. There is no other category which has a deeper connection to a woman's heart as jewellery – our research shows that. Not cosmetics, not beauty products, not fashion. Jewellery beats all of them hands down.

Also, every piece of jewellery is associated with a celebration of some sort. There is always deep emotion and a backstory associated with each piece.

But beyond celebrating jewellery, we also want consumers to understand that Indriya is about exquisite design and fine craftsmanship. That's our strength.

We have a design house within our company, and our percentage of self-designed products is much higher than that of any other player. 

Beyond design, we have two more messages for advertising to deliver. One is that we understand your social culture and hence, the kind of jewellery you would like. And lastly, we want to emphasise our assortment – today, we have over 20,000 pieces of jewellery to win you over so that you say, ‘Dil abhi bhara nahin.’

Our media choices are driven by our strength which is our small scale right now. As we become bigger, we'll re-engineer our media mix.

Sreekant Khandekar: What's your media split?

Shantiswarup Panda: We use all mediums that are out there, including radio, TV, everything. But the largest part of our spend goes into digital. 

We have been very focused with a catchment-driven campaign strategy. We don’t want to take big properties like IPL and have a large spillover. We are okay if people don’t know us in the cities where we don’t have a presence. 

Digital allows us to be hyper-local. Print and outdoors also work. Our media choices are driven by our strength, which is our small scale right now. As we get bigger, we'll re-engineer our media mix.

We have a lot to learn because, as both a brand and a business, we are still in our infancy. 

Sreekant Khandekar: When you think of the rate at which you are scaling up, what is the stuff that worries you, preoccupies you?

Shantiswarup Panda: Interesting question. We have a lot to learn because, as both a brand and a business, we are still in our infancy. 

We started with four stores in July last year, and now we are targeting 100 of them. What is the best strategy to get there, be it in terms of communication or choice of media? Because we have to cut regionally in terms of creativity and go hyper-local in terms of content. 

To get to 100 stores, we will have to go to 40-50 cities, right? This creates the challenge of finding a balance between hyper-local, city-based communication as opposed to a larger-scale campaign. The biggest challenge is to figure out the right time for the mix to change from hyper-local to regional to pan-state to pan-national.

We watch our campaign performance very closely. We will need to ensure that the cost of acquisition does not go up significantly even as we keep changing mediums. These are the challenges.

Sreekant Khandekar: If you had a word of advice to offer young people entering marketing and advertising, what would you say to them?

Shantiswarup Panda: First of all, I have been lucky to have enjoyed every stint and most days of my work life across different companies. But many, many people I have seen don’t enjoy their work. So I’d say, do what you enjoy doing. If you enjoy it, you will do your best in that space.

For students of marketing, I’d say that product categories don't matter. This is what I have learnt while moving from FMCG to durables to fashion to jewellery. What really matters is the deep understanding of customers, markets and business models. It is this that gives you strength as you uncover the right insights which allow you to build a credible business at scale.