“On the back of the gradual recovery of consumer sentiment, our showrooms in India and beyond have witnessed a significant increase in walk-ins and sales. Thanks to the positive consumer sentiment, during Akshaya Tritiya this year, our cumulative sales from our domestic and international retail businesses clocked Rs.930 crore,” says Ahammed MP, Chairman, Malabar Gold & Diamonds.
Apart from gold, the jewellery brand has witnessed sizable demand for diamond, lightweight, and studded jewellery.
With the nation getting ready for the festive season, hopes are high for Malabar Gold in terms of sales revenue.
“The gold demand in the upcoming festive season will witness steady growth,” observes Ahammed.
“Precious jewellery made of gold, diamonds, and gemstones has always been an integral part of the social fabric of our country. There could be a short-term dent in purchasing power and consumer sentiment due to various factors and market scenarios. Nevertheless, our long-term market outlook always remains positive. Gold is a symbol of preciousness and purity. Going forward, we aim to further strengthen our position as a responsible jeweller, banking on our three key business fundamentals: – trust, goodwill and transparency,” adds Ahammed.
Speaking on the plans to expand your festive marketing strategies to reach more TG, he says, “Our ever-evolving product innovations and marketing strategy play a pivotal role in helping us build stronger traction among the new generation of customers. Our successful Brides Of India 2021 campaign, themed on the grand-entry of the bride, is a case in point. We conceptualised the Everafter campaign promoting wedding bands to reach out to a younger consumer segment and create a new retail opportunity. “The roll-out of collections like Viraaz, Elaara, and Zoul Lifestyle Jewellery targets diversified consumer demographics and sensibilities.”
Apart from expanding the product portfolio, the brand has strengthened their retail presence as well in FY22, despite a not-so-positive market scenario due to pandemic impact. Although volume-based sales were impacted in FY22, the brand achieved its growth targets in FY22. “
In FY23, as consumer demand is expected to touch pre-covid level and sales are estimated to exceed pre-covid numbers driven by pent-up demand, we’ll plan a comprehensive market strategy to appeal to a broader consumer segment,” he adds.
Malabar Gold has registered a 35% growth in revenue at Rs 30,000 crore in FY22.
Speaking about the strategies planned to support the growth plans, Ahammed says, “Our goal is to grow business by building stronger market traction and leveraging our inherent values based on trust and transparency.” Our global expansion plan is to increase the number of showrooms to 750 from 280 in a couple of years across all the key markets. India, the UAE and South East Asia remain the focus markets in our mission to become the No.1 jeweller in the world. “These three markets act as a springboard for our mission to spread our presence across the globe.”
He adds, “We have adopted a holistic approach while strategizing our expansion plan.” Needless to say, India will remain the most important market of the three. Malabar Group’s core mission is to Make in India and Market to the World. The quest will further enhance our brand-proposition as well as the aspirational value of Indian jewellery at the international level.”
Elaborating on the media vehicle proportion between traditional and digital media, Ahammed says, “We adopt a 360-degree approach while developing advertising and marketing strategy, as our consumer outreach transcends beyond specific consumer segments and geographies. Based on the varied penetration and influence levels of traditional, digital, and social media across multiple consumer segments, we customise our advertising communication.”
“The media consumption habits of the key target consumer segments determine the media vehicle of a particular campaign. For instance, the Everafter campaign was completely social media-focused as the target audience was millennials and young men and women. On the other hand, the Brides Of India 2021 campaign had an intelligent mix of both traditional and social media, as target consumers, i.e. brides, are spread across geographical divides and cultural spectrum,” he adds.
“The idea has always been to optimise the impact of our marketing communication. So, there isn’t any standard media buying strategy that we follow while designing the media mix of a particular advertisement. The strategy and budget are entirely need-based decisions for us. These are strategic decisions which primarily depend on the magnitude of a specific campaign,” says Ahammed.
Malabar Gold is working on a large-scale retail expansion plan in FY23. As a part of that plan, the brand aims to launch 60 new showrooms across India and 42 showrooms overseas in FY23.
“Our revenue target for FY23 is Rs. 45,000 crore, which is in line with our larger target of becoming the world’s largest retailer with revenue clocking over Rs. 75,000 crore by FY25. We have around 280 showrooms at the moment spanning 10 countries, such as India, the GCC (the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia), Malaysia, Singapore, and the US,” concludes Ahammed.
