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Platinum to sparkle more in smaller towns too

Platinum to sparkle more in smaller towns too

The demand for platinum jewellery, which had been impacted due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown, is now slowly reviving and is likely to recover to the pre-Covid levels during the current year.

According to Vaishali Banerjee, MD, Platinum Guild International (PGI), the industry had witnessed close to 29 per cent growth in sales during the peak buying period from October 15 to November 15, 2020, over the same period last year.

PGI had launched the ‘Season of Hope’ — a unique retail initiative on platinum jewellery — across 1,200 stores during this period to support migrant workers and labourers who were badly hit due to the pandemic.

“Recovery (for the industry) started from July once markets started reopening; the recovery was very strong from September. We launched the Season of Hope programme to rebuild demand and support migrant workers. As many as 1,280 stores participated in the initiative. The industry saw close to 29 per cent growth during that period compared to the same period last year,” Banerjee told BusinessLine.

Based on the current trend and revival in demand in October-November, Q4 of calendar year 2020 is likely to register a double-digit growth in sales compared to the third quarter of the year. However, the growth may be muted on a year-on-year basis as the first half of the year was impacted due to the lockdown.

“The overall mood is good with news of the vaccine, and everything remaining under control should augur well for the industry. We do expect markets to grow but how much is something that needs to be seen. But we expect the recovery to be close to 2019 levels,” she said.

More acceptance

Platinum, considered to be one of the rare metals, finds increased acceptance among the growing affluent urban young population. While initially the demand was restricted to the Tier-I and top metro cities, there is a rising demand for such jewellery from the Tier-II and -III towns.

The distribution in terms of the number of stores is close to 60 per cent in Tier I cities, 35 per cent in Tier II and close to five per cent in Tier III.

“It is no longer a Metro phenomenon; there is an increase in demand for platinum jewellery among smaller towns. Development of a distribution network in these towns has helped meet the demand,” she said.

This article is auto-generated by Algorithm Source: www.thehindubusinessline.com

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