The influx of online retailers was said to be the end of traditional brickand- mortar retail scene. However, if statistics are anything to go by then the online retailers’ revenue is still a fraction as against of the offline stores. Recently, there have been a number of online e-tailers who have moved into offline space or vice-versa, which means that these retailers are going Omni-channel/ Omnichannel/Omni channel way (there is still no consensus on spelling of this word, but we are using Omnichannel as per Oxford Dictionary.). So is this the time to take online to offline or vice-versa? Or is the Omnichannel presence future of retail? Is it the time for the retail industry to enter this all new phase? How much of this is applicable to Indian jewellery retail market? Kavita Parab finds out in the Big Story of the month.

India is the second largest country by the number (almost 462 million internet users) of internet users.In spite of this, still a major part of the population prefers buying products from offline stores. India’s largest opinion poll conducted by Inshorts and Ipsos, between July 25 and August 7 2016, 54 per cent of urban Indians said if the cost is same, they would prefer to visit a proper retail store to buy a product, while four per cent said they don’t want to indulge in online shopping at all. And this may be the reason behind famous online brands opting for offline stores or vice versa.

According to reports, in the last few years, some 20 online companies in the U.S. have launched a physical presence to better market their wares, forge closer customer relations, and yes, boost online traffic and sales. Amazon aside, these include mostly specialty and clothing stores such as Warby Parker, Bonobos, Birchbox and Casper.

In case of jewellery, offline stores/ brick-and-mortar stores still hold major part of entire market share. In fact, a lot of online jewellery retailers are launching offline stores. Recently, CaratLane launched its first store in Mumbai at High Street Phoenix mall. According to reports, the brand is planning to launch around 14 more physical stores across various key locations in India. Online jeweller Voylla is planning to open at least 25 more offline stores. It already has three offline stores. While VelverCase, too, is planning to expand its offline presence by setting kiosks and collaborations with other brands in 8-10 cities. The brand has moved to a marketplace model in July 2015, and has on-boarded close to 300 sellers across 28 cities since then.

All these brands have been popular online jewellery retailers who have online and offline presence. Main reason behind the omnichannel presence is that the Indian buyers always want to touch, feel and experience the product before they buy, especially jewellery. In regards to jewellery, the buyer wants an easy shift from online to offline store. For eg: If a buyer buys a pair of earrings online but doesn’t like the actual product on delivery. The buyer can get the exchange done immediately from the concerned brand’s physical store. This not only saves buyer’s time but it also may lead to more sales as the buyer may be tempted by wide variety displayed in physical store.

Another reason behind omnichannel approach is to expand the buyer reach. Online buying in India is still at a nascent stage. According to reports, online ventures account for as little as 0.2 per cent of overall sales. Initially, all online retailers overestimated the ecommerce market size and were caught unawares by the slow growth in the sector. They were forced to either set stand-alone stores or opt for franchise model for the sales growth. This not only increased their sales but also widened their brand reach. It also helped to bridge the gap between the offline and online experience.

Besides,offline stores also help improving customer experience and engagement by providing hands-on experience about the product and one can educate the buyer about the product.

As the online jewellery buying is still at a nascent stage, omnichannel presence could be a saviour for this industry. A buyer may check product in a physical store and buy it online if he gets a better deal. After all, omnichannel seeks to provide the customer with a seamless shopping experience whether the customer is shopping online from a desktop or mobile device, by telephone or in a bricks-and-mortar store.

Let us find out the views of some of the industry players who have moved online and offline presence -

CHALLENGES/CHANGES INcORPORATED

Kapil Hetamsaria: I would say there were lot of initial challenges – from building a robust ‘zero inventory’ supply chain that can consistently deliver world-class products within a 7-10 day period to getting set up to export one piece at a time across to world to hiring the right team with the right attitude –everything required patience and persistence. Luckily, for us, customers welcomed the model with open arms, which has always been something we are forever grateful to our early adopters.

Finding the right people, an A+ Team - talented individuals with a strong sense of work-ethic, team spirit and passion for change - is really hard. We are very selective in our hiring since we invest a lot in our people and view them as assets for the long-term. This is how we have come to build a top-notch team that “works hard and plays harder.” Another one I can think of is the Interstate Logistics and Policies. The documentation, policies and procedures that are required each time we ship fine jewellery are not the easiest and can be quite a cumbersome process, especially with each State having its own requirements.

Mithun Sacheti: We now have 15 retail stores across India - the newest ones being at High Street Phoenix (Mumbai), Mall of India (Noida), Phoenix Marketcity (Pune) and Koramangala (Bangalore) and we are planning to open more stores in the coming months. Our stores are very different from the typical Indian jewellery store, which tend to be very large, with a guard and an usher who walks you in. Our stores are designed for the customer who walks into a mall or a duty-free shop. There is no glass and you can walk right up to the products. You can touch, feel and experience the jewellery without any pressure. It’s more inviting than what the retail store environment currently is in India. Our brick-andmortar presence complements our online presence.

Another unique feature of our stores is that the prices of all products are the same as listed on our website. So as a customer, you can be sure that the price being offered to you is exactly the same as it is to anyone else in the country. This level of transparency is unheard of in traditional retail stores.

Adhish Raj Sahrawat: Our group started business with the gold and diamond designer jewellery brand, Sonal’s Bijoux. A few years down the line, our Silver jewellery brand Adawna was launched. While Sonal’s Bijoux started as an offline brand, Adawna was launched simultaneously, both online and offline. Offline sales have an established system that has been followed by brands of all sizes for many decades. The data available in the market makes it relatively easy to isolate important factors, while building an offline setup. Store location, setup, brand positioning and awareness activities have well established processes in place. Depending upon budget, a brand can choose from varied permutations and combinations to build its offline presence.

By far the limitation for everyone, barring large brands, is budget! Whether it is procuring retail space, finishing interiors or launching a marketing campaign, budget is the single most important factor when launching a brand, especially so, as cash flows in the initial months will be not be enough to cover all the expenses you will be incurring.

Ankit Banthia: Currently, we are still in the process of opening our first multi brand store. The target customers for both online and offline jewellery are completely different. In offline space the inventory holding cost is very high.

Kajal Jain: At present, AhilyaJewels.com does not have a brick-and-mortar presence. We are only present online. However, we do keep doing pop-ups and exhibitions on an ongoing basis for our brand to gain awareness amongst select target groups. The challenges of an offline presence are essentially two main ones - first, being the high real estate cost and secondly staff training and turnover.

APPROACH
Kapil Hetamsaria: Since the start of VelvetCase in 2012, we have had a unique and different approach to the business – we follow a ‘consumer back’ rather than the traditional ‘product forward’ model.Our disruptive approach in leveraging technology to rapidly create the country’s largest marketplace has, in a short period of time, created a platform that showcases jewellery from over 150+ new designers and jewelers globally and allows us access to close to 700 leads monthly. The aspiration is to offer maximum choice to a consumer in terms of variety,visual appeal and overall experience.

Mithun Sacheti: Our stores are very different from the typical Indian jewellery store, which tend to be very large, with a guard and an usher who walks you in. Our stores are designed for the customer who walks into a mall or a duty-free shop. There is no glass and you can walk right up  to the products. You can touch, feel and experience the jewellery without any pressure. It’s more inviting than what the retail store environment currently is in India. Our brick-and-mortar  presence complements our online presence.

Another unique feature of our stores is that the prices  of all products are the same as listed on our website. So as a customer, you can be sure that the price being offered to you is exactly the same as it is to anyone else in the country. This level of transparency is unheard of in traditional retail stores.

Adhish Raj Sahrawat: Being a designer jewellery company, with a large focus on customisation for our brand Sonal’s Bijoux, we were never going to have a typical retail store setup. The positioning of Sonal’s Bijoux is that of a brand that recognises your needs
and does what’s necessary to create a product unique to your taste! Our key focus was not on servicing a large client base, it was instead on matching our strength as a designer house with the customer who were looking for a certain kind of product and accompanied service. ‘Niche’ was word that was often used, while formulating our marketing and sales strategies. We participated in niche exhibitions and organized private events. Mass media was rarely used. Word of mouth was a slow yet powerful driver of our brand. As opposed to typical retail stores, the aim wasn’t just increased visibility, but increased visibility in the right circles. Being a business focused on quality over quantity meant constraints on marketing spends and a  sharper more focused marketing and promotion strategy.

Ankit Banthia: As we would be selling jewellery by showcasing it both physically and digitally, our marketing focus will also be making use of a lot of digital technologies. The target market segment would be young people who appreciates technology and for whom selection of right design is the prime factor in the purchase. All the stores will also be open in the locations where there are a lot of corporate offices.

Kajal Jain: In terms of marketing and branding, it is exactly the same whether it is in the online or offline space. One would have to create a brand identity and then all vehicles must communicate the same message - be it inner or the outer packaging, your website, any social media presence - they all must essentially speak the same language, otherwise there is the danger that the brand gets diluted. When it comes to sales however, it is a completely different issue altogether. Lead generation is at a national level, vs. an offline store, which would  essentially be local. Sales lead generation is essentially through search engines, social media likes Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, etc.

Is omnichannel approach the future?

Kapil Hetamsaria: Our goal at VelvetCase is to transform the jewellery retail industry and shift the power from the jeweller (today’s situation) to the consumer. A typical jeweller carries stock and therefore his/her incentive is to convince and sell a piece from their stock. We, on the other hand, do not carry any stock and hence make to order all our jewellery –thereby allowing a consumer to really select a design of their choice from our extensive online collection and then customize the design to fit their budget and need.

Current Indian Jewellery retail market stands at around USD 38 Bn annually, which is largely traditional and is poised to grow at CAGR of around 10 per cent to 12 per cent in next five years. While the Indian ecommerce (retail) is expected to grow with a CAGR of 20 per cent till year 2020, we expect the online jewellery retail to grow with similar rate in next five years.

Online jewellery retail market offers exponentially high choices, ease of buying, 3D modelling, design customization free trail at home, and host of other new features, will make Jewellery buying online a lot more fun, easy and transparentfor retail consumer.

Mithun Sacheti: Our philosophy at CaratLane is driven by the fact that we want people to be able to buy our jewellery through whichever channel they are most comfortable. For instance, if they are comfortable buying online and getting the product delivered directly to their house, and then they can buy the item through our website or our mobile app. If on the other hand, they would prefer to touch, feel and try on the product before buying, and then they can visit our stores.

Not just for jewellers, but for all retailers, I believe offering this choice to consumers plays a very important role and I definitely see more and more brands adopting this strategy in the future.

Adhish Raj Sahrawat: As the Indian economy matures, customers not only have more options to choose from, but they also expect greater choice, in the way they do their purchasing. From our offline and online experience, we have come across a vast variety of customers. For e.g. A  person might see a product online, but might insist on coming over to our design studio to purchase it in person. There are people who come to our store and use our online payment portal to make their payment. Some request customization of products and pay advance through bank deposits to get the work started on their chosen design. We have had relatives pay for products from overseas, while the client sits across from our design team in our studio!

There is no doubt that the customer today wants the seller to provide the convenience of the options to choose. Just like a customer likes to have flexibility in design and budget while buying a product, similarly he also wants flexibility when it comes to access, payment and delivery options! The only reason a brand would limit itself to a single channel, is if they consciously want to target a segment with certain fixed buying preferences, or they don’t have the logistics to operate a multi-channel operation.

Ankit Banthia: Jewellery as a product is very much different from other sectors. It is a much closed possession. People can buy Rs. 50,000 worth iphone online without thinking much and can discard it after 1-2 years but the same people think 10 times before making a purchase of jewellery worth Rs. 10,000.

Since the product is so different, customers expectthesale experience also to be equally different and premium. It’s a social shopping. People always go with their loved ones to buy  jewellery and never alone. All these in-store and social-shopping experience is missing in the pure e-commerce market. Pure e-commerce for jewellery is a big leap for customers from the traditional ‘brickand- mortar’ stores. Omni-channel lies somewhere in between the e-commerce and the pure offline stores and somewhat leverages the benefits of both hence this is the future for the jewellery market.

Kajal Jain: Omnichannel is definitely a preferred mix and is working favorably across industries. Jewellery as an industry per se requires building its presence to the Indian consumer not only visually but also through touch and feel and therefore we will see a marked increase in jewellers adapting to an omnichannel presence.