Kolkata: Lightweight jewellery, along with gold and silver coins, accounted for the bulk of the demand on Akshaya Tritiya this year, according to industry executives, as gold prices hovered about 20% higher year-on-year for the day that is considered auspicious to buy gold.
Market leader Tanishq said it expects up to 20% year-on-year increase in Akshaya Tritiya sales value, driven primarily by lightweight jewellery priced between ₹50,000 and ₹1 lakh, similar to other jewellers such as Joyalukkas, Senco Gold & Diamonds and Malabar Gold & Diamonds.
Quick commerce platforms such as Blinkit, Zepto and Swiggy Instamart also cashed in on the opportunity, delivering gold and silver coins within 10 minutes. Most of them claimed demand was surging but declined to mention absolute or growth figures.
Gold was trading at ₹72,633 per 10 gm on Akshaya Tritiya, which fell on May 10 this year, up from ₹60,600 on April 22 last year. Silver prices were up 26% during this period to ₹84,225 per kg on Friday.
“We have come up with 10,000 designs of lightweight jewellery and are expecting sales to increase up to 20% (compared to last year’s Akshaya Tritiya),” said Ajoy Chawla, chief executive of Tanishq. “The summer heat, (ongoing) elections and high gold prices have dampened the mood to some extent, but the market has pent-up demand. Akshaya Tritiya sales will continue on Saturday and Sunday as well. We are also witnessing sales of low denomination gold coins.”
The Tata company also offered incentives such as collection of payments from homes since it was difficult for customers to carry cash, given the election-related curbs.
Demand was lower in the more price-sensitive eastern markets than in other parts of the country, said industry executives.
Softer Demand in East
“We have seen a growth of 7-10% in value terms, but there has been a volume degrowth of almost 15-18%,” said Suvankar Sen, managing director of Kolkata-based Senco Gold & Diamonds. “Footfall has also taken a hit this year and is down 10-15%. We have seen a lot of customers coming and buying wedding jewellery. Lightweight and everyday jewellery in diamonds and platinum has moved fast.”
Joy Alukkas, chairman of Kerala-based Joyalukkas Group, too said most of the company’s customers on its online platform preferred lightweight jewellery. “Earrings and pendant sets are especially sought after by online shoppers. There is significant interest in coins and gold bars. Additionally, we have observed a noticeable demand for necklaces in our physical stores,” he said.
Southern India accounts for more than 40% of India’s annual gold consumption of 800-850 tonnes. “Half a gram and 1 gram gold beans, which we have just launched, have had very enthusiastic responses from across ages and we have fallen short of supply, online and offline,” said Sen of Senco.
Quick Uptick
Online platforms reported brisk sales of 1gm gold and 10 gm silver coins.
Instamart partnered with Malabar Gold and Muthoot Exim, part of the Muthoot Pappachan Group, to deliver coins.
Swiggy cofounder Phani Kishan A, who heads the Instamart vertical, said in a post on X on Friday morning that the platform received its first order for coins at 12.21 am from Chandigarh. “Orders for gold and silver coins began on Akshaya Tritiya at midnight and are now going off the shelves!!” he said.
He also posted a graph showing the surge in coin orders on Instamart from 6 am, adding that sales of coins on Instamart were six times higher than on Dhanteras in October last year. Zepto partnered with investment tech platform Jar to sell gold coins from its in-house jewellery brand, Nek. “We’ve delivered over 20 kg of gold and silver coins as of 5 pm today (Friday),” said Aadit Palicha, cofounder and chief executive of Zepto. The startup is on course to surpass its total sales from last year’s Diwali, he said in a LinkedIn post.
Chief executive Albinder Dhindsa earlier posted on X that Blinkit would cater to requirements for authentic gold and silver coins “and more in 10 minutes.”
With inputs from Jessica Rajan in New Delhi
