Candere by Kalyan Jewellers is growing by 100 percent even as online jewellery is growing at 50 to 100pc, said Akshay Matkar, Head of Marketing & Brand Experience, Candere by Kalyan Jewellers, in conversation with Medianews4u.com. The brand closed FY 2022 clocking Rs.141 crore, according to reports.
Asked about the factors that contributed to the growth, he said, “Our strategies and all our round customer satisfaction is helping us. It is easier to acquire users but very difficult to retain them, which we learnt the hard way. Our retention rate is strong at around 40pc. The repeat users are helping you with higher AOV (Average order Value), frequency of purchase etc. Major growth drivers are retention rate and customer experience.”
Conscious effort seems to have helped. Executives in key positions called a designated number of customers each and gathered feedback on parameters like website experience, delivery experience and brand awareness. The activity is ongoing, noted Matkar, over and above the regular feedback mechanism.
Experience Centres Expansion
The brand has seven verticals including the D2C website, tie-ups, marketplaces and experience centres. A report on IndianRetailer.com dated 9 Dec 2022 said 99pc of the brand’s revenue comes from e-commerce. We asked the spokesperson about the targeted channel shares going forward and expansion of experience centres launched October 2022.
“Our plan for the first half of the year, say by May, is to have three more. Ideally, we are planning them in Mumbai because we are looking to capture and complete one city at a time and move to other places. We are looking at possibilities in other states as well. Currently, our plans are only for brand-owned stores. We are going the omni-channel route and want to experiment, learn, fail, succeed. Once we feel that the model is structured well, then we will open up for franchisees,” explained Matkar.
Alongside existing verticals, Candere is planning to launch a website dedicated to international markets.
“We look at the experience centres and B2B business as our non-ecommerce share which by next year we are expecting to attain a ratio of 90:10pc,” he added.
Around 70 to 80pc of the business currently comes from D2C while 20pc is from market places, said the marketing head.
On traffic, Matkar noted that it is growing at 20pc per quarter. The traffic to sales conversion is at 50:50, said the spokesperson.
Small Town Trends
Covid accelerated online adoption and it is true for online jewellery too, at least in the case of Candere. According to Matkar, the share of revenue from Tier 2 and 3 towns increased post Covid. Tier 2 cities accounted for 20 to 25pc of revenue, while 10 to 15 percent came from Tier 3 cities, according to multiple reports.
“Earlier, 80 to 90pc of the business was dominated by metros and Tier 1 and hardly 10 to 15pc was from Tier2. The behavioural change came post-Covid because of the accessibility; internet consumption penetrated through the world and in India it helped in the Tier 2 and 3 growth which is currently standing around 25pc. There is a lot of research happening from Tier 2 and 3 and we are also doing some targeted digital campaigns for users there,” explained Matkar.
While average ticket size is between Rs.25,000 and Rs.30,000, in Tier 2 cities it is in the band of Rs.33,000 to Rs.35,000. Across markets, rings, earrings, and pendants are categories which account for the majority of Candere’s business with the largest selling price band being Rs.15,000 to Rs.25,000.
The share of online sales is still ‘very small’ compared to physical retail for the category, but 70pc of jewellery research is happening online, noted Matkar.
Being a digital-first brand, 90pc of the brand’s spends are on digital while it has started ATL activities in Mumbai, supporting its experience centres.
Occasions, Markets and the Quick Commerce Challenge
One noticed an ad campaign during Diwali themed #RishtonKoSajayein from Candere. We asked the spokesperson about the seasonality of purchase in online jewellery and if it was different from offline.
“The occasions are the same, be it online or offline.There are certain occasions traditionally celebrated like birthdays, anniversaries, gifting during festivals and wedding seasons, and some according to trends and around GenZ and millennials like Valentine’s Day, Women’s Day etc. For instance, during Valentine’s Day products related to heart shapes get sold during the first quarter of the year,” noted the marketer.
Candere’s top markets are Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi, with metros and Tier 2 following suit. In the north, Indore is among the markets “working well” for the brand while down south it is seeing traction in Madurai.
In an era of quick commerce, online jewellers do face the challenge of a relatively longer delivery time. That does pose a challenge, noted Matkar, underlining that personalisation is key in the category.
“Yes, a brand needs to adapt to whatever changes that are happening in the entire industry. Delivery is a key factor, hence our experience centres are focused on the same. We are also planning to optimise our fast-moving items. Ninety per cent of our inventories are customised, which is our core value proposition,” he said.
