Touch me not -- seems to the big mantra across all businesses and in life as well, no thanks to Coronavirus. Enter contactless buying, which has been made a reality with the help of e-commerce backed by Augmented Reality apps. Will they pave way for a future where customers buy jewellery without stepping foot into brick and mortar stores? Let’s find out…

Does e-commerce & virtual try-on satiate consumer experience?

 “We have been using virtual tryouts and Augmented Reality for some time now, but I have my doubts. If the cost of jewellery is less than Rs 50,000, may be people may consider buying online, but in case of bridal jewellery and high end products, people prefer to be present at the store. They want the real experience,” says Kartik Khanna, Khanna Jewellers, Delhi. All the same, technology has its advantages -- you can show stock which is kept in other branches of a store as well. In case of a discerning buyer, AR works to an extent of directing the buyer towards discovering many products, however, whether or not it helps in actual sale is still debatable. “Augmented reality works best with larger screens like iPad or an LCD TV and especially where the client tries on larger products like necklaces, chokers etc. for earrings, rings, etc it may not work so well – the picture that one sees is quite unrealistic,” opines Raghava Rastogi, Jugal Kishore Jewellers, Lucknow. The quality of technology needs to improve for buyers to buy fine jewellery with the help of this technology.

“Today, going in for AR has become herd mentality. Customers are walking in, they ask if the jewellery is sanitized, if they are satisfied with our answer they go ahead and try on different pieces that interest them and finally buy the one that they want,” adds Rastogi.

In India, jewellery buying is a cultural indulgence. Families visit jewellery showrooms to experience the whole shebang – glimpsing through jewellery pieces on display, trying on pieces, feeling it on their hands and discussing about its craftsmanship with family members. Virtual try-ons and e-commerce does not offer all of this. Even for buying a ring, which costs Rs 15,000 or so, people come with their family, they try on various rings, take pictures send it to their folks who could not accompany them to the store, and then decide on which one to buy. Buying jewellery has a certain ‘feel good’ factor.

It's really not the real deal

AR in its true sense is yet to arrive in India. There is still scope for improvement and has to undergo a lot of testing rounds. According to sources, many big brands have embraced AR just as a means to an end - it is another chanel through which items can be discovered giving brands an undue advantage. Says Ramesh Davanam, “Augmented reality as a concept is fine in theory, in practice it may not actually serve the purpose. It is not so appealing, it does not give the real effect.” Consumers are presented with many choices and may get a basic understanding of what will suit them, however, many jewellers feel that it doesn’t do justice to jewellery. Unlike clothes or gadgets, jewellery involves a lot of workmanship, with gemstones and is of high value. Good quality, well shot photographs or even a 360 degree view of the jewellery piece don’t do justice to the painstaking craftsmanship that has gone into making the jewellery.

“Consumers want to feel jewellery, try it on and then buy. In case of augmented reality, there is a limitation on the look and feel,” explains Tejpal Ranka. There is a vast difference between trying on pieces through an app versus trying them out physically. According to  Sanjay Jain, Royal Lifestyle, Punjab, “Augmented reality apps work for necklaces, I haven’t seen them for bangles. In our kind of cities, people do not want to buy jewellery on apps, they want to come to the store to buy. They want to wear jewellery and try it on.”

Its 2020, no brand can afford to be bereft of technology

A jeweller has to cater to the whole family – the older generation in the family and the youngsters as well. “Embracing technology always helps any business. In June 2019 we started using AR– it creates an image in the customer’s mind that this is a business which is in sync with time – technology is the language that millennials understand and we make them feel that we too can talk in their lingo, when we make good use of technology.” The actual buying decision may lie with people who are aged 45 and above, but their decision is highly influenced by their kids who are millennials. Millennials are tech savvy and they derive thrill out of trying on jewellery pieces virtually. There are other benefits to e-commerce and AR apps – they enable retailers to capture unique and minute data about their potential consumer, which may not be possible at a store.

“This morning a client walked into our store after driving some 180 kms only because they were impressed by our social media presence and website. So there is no looking away from technology,” informs Prakash.

The sweet spot for ‘contactless’ buying

Cost is by far the most important determinant when it comes to buying jewellery online. Says Davanam, “When it comes to purchase of over Rs 1 lakh, people may not go in for online purchase. However, we are using this augmented reality for the last three to four years. It saves time, it gives them a broad idea about the piece, they need not spend time trying 30 different sets, instead, they can narrow down on two – and try on those and get done with the purchase, when they come to the store.”For small ticket items, say jewellery below Rs 50,000 they may still buy online, but for high end jewellery, they will always want to come to the store. The sweet spot for e-commerce backed by AR seems to lie with jewellery pieces that cost less that Rs 1 lac. And more importantly, this technology works like a charm with gifting, especially now, when people are not in a position to travel for family functions and weddings. E-commerce & AR come in handy wherein customers try on jewellery pieces and make the purchase on their trusted retailers’ online platform.

Technology is not fun, said no one ever

“People are excited to try on the products using the augmented reality app. They are happy that jewellers have this technology, they enjoy using it and trying on pieces virtually has its own thrill, especially for youngsters,” adds Ranka. Just the idea of trying on how many ever pieces one wants to without having to set foot into a store is enticing, especially in a world which is pandemic-stricken. In a pre-Covid world, where brands were still skeptical about the idea of e-commerce and virtual try-on, many of them have embraced AR post-Covid, thanks to the many opportunities it presented to them during complete lockdown. When sales was literally zero for months, for those jewellers who already had adopted this technology, product discovery and virtual trying on were still a possibility. Having made an informed decision after virtually trying on jewellery, once the lock down eased, customers went to the store to make the final decision. 

Is the Indian audience mature enough for contactless buying of jewellery?

Not just in India, but in countries like China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, etc, where technology is really advanced, people still want to buy jewellery only after trying it on at a brick and mortar store. “Contactless buying is quite farfetched for India. For instance, a car is a homogenized product, across all cities in India, it is the same car. But still, one wants to have a test drive of the car, before one buys it. The same logic comes into play with jewellery as well,” adds Rastogi. Many jewellers after having tried and tested AR and e-commerce undisputedly agree that these kinds of technology gives them an edge, but in India, where a majority of buying is driven by occasions and important events like weddings, where purchase of high ticket, bridal jewellery is involved, contactless buying will not work and is still a far-fetched dream.

Verdict: E-Commerce and AR have their advantages and help in bringing more clients to the actual brick and mortar space. However, contactless buying is still a distant dream in India as customers are still not ready to bank on an app or any technology when it comes to their hard earned money