Due to the lock down following the COVID-19 pandemic, the jewellery industry, which has come to a standstill is expecting complete sales washout on the day of Akshaya Tritiya on Sunday as compared to last year, even as many retailers are doling out innovative offers to attract customers.
Anantha Padmanabhan who is All India Gems and Jewellery Domestic Council Chairman told that the current year Akshaya Tritiya has fallen within the lockdown 2.0, which will result in a complete shutdown of jewellery shops.
In comparison to the day of the festival of the last year there’s an expectation of 97-98 per cent decline, he added to it.
Including locking of prices, gold ownership certificates, among others he stated that the jewellers have come out with different kinds of innovative offers to attract customers for digital purchases.
After the lockafter the only any physical delivery or purchase will happen . He added on to it that we expect the industry will gradually limp back to normalcy with the month of May and June being extremely slow. It is highly expected that the demand to peak during Diwali.
Akshaya Tritiya, which is also known as Akha Teej, is an annual springtime festival considered auspicious especially in the south and the west for beginning new ventures, marriages, expensive investments such as in gold.
PNG Jewellers Chairman and Managing Director Saurabh Gadgil said that for the first time ever, gold buying on Akshaya Tritiya will be completely online.
He also stated that unlike in the past years, Kalyan Jewellers does not have a full-fledged Akshaya Tritiya campaign this year.
He added on to it that over the last past 25 odd years, Akshaya Tritiya has always been about buying gold at the showroom. However, this year, owing to a change in the current situation because with the lockdown, we have launched the ‘Gold Ownership Certificate’ to keep the annual gold purchase tradition going.
In addition to this he also said looking upon the limited time since the announcement of Kalyan Jeweller’s Akshaya Tritiya offering and given the current circumstances, the company is expected to clock about 10 per cent of its usual Akshaya Tritiya sales this year.