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Technovating the Gems and Jewellery Trade

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PCQ Bureau
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At present India exports about 95% of the world's processed diamonds. Indian Gems & Jewellery exports grew at more than 15 per cent in the FY 2011-2012. India is the diamond polishing capital of the world because of its rich tradition of craftsmanship with high level of skills, low production costs, and effective worldwide distribution network for promotion and marketing. The gems and jewellery industry is also a major employer which gives employment to lakhs of people who are involved with the procurement of raw material from Africa, Australia, Canada and Russia. The skilled labour then transforms these into products which are in demand in China, India, Italy and Turkey or the sophisticated markets in the US, Europe, Far East, Middle East and Asia. India's composition of exports includes cut and polished diamonds, coloured gemstones and gold jewellery. Out of these, the cut and polished diamonds export makes for the lion's share of the revenue followed by gold jewellery. Coloured gemstones lag behind in terms of revenue generation for the country. The Gitanjali Group followed by Shrenuj & Company enjoy the top 2 spots in the Indian gems and jewellery industry. The Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) is the representative body of trade for this industry.

Alleviating the Challenges Faced by the Gems and Jewellery Industry

Some of the challenges which plague the Gems and Jewellery industry encompass rising gold prices, competition from unorganized players, dependence on raw material import and emerging threat from other countries. The ways to alleviate these challenges include the growth in organized retail space, aggressive marketing and advertising, large scale shows and exhibitions, domestic players acquiring foreign companies, investments from PE firms and corporate houses entering the market. The key initiatives from the government side include providing tax benefits, import duty relaxations, provisions for exports and other initiatives. Looking out for more customers and existing customer satisfaction are already on the minds of the companies in the SME space. Inventory management, manufacturing process control with metal/gold control, catalog/imaging process, bar-coding process, customer management, accounting system, reports tracking system are some of the solutions which could be utilized by companies. ERP is another pertinent solution that should be used.

Case Study







How DVN Traders utilized e-commerce as a solution for expanding their business






DVN Traders in Mumbai, gold suppliers since 2006, sell different kinds of jewellery that range from genuine diamond studded gold rings to 925 sterling silver necklaces. The company has been in operation since 1975, but it was only in 2006 that it ventured into the export market and gained traction using e-commerce.





"My brother and I began our business with one small workshop, creating our products with our own hands," says Niraj Choksi, the owner. "We used to focus on only the domestic Indian market and managed to gradually expand our business and workforce. However, after years of development, we felt the need to bring our business to a new level by embarking on online B2B trade."





The Choksi brothers discovered Alibaba.com in November 2006 through a search engine, and began using it as a free member to find overseas buyers, new suppliers, as well as wholesalers from other parts of India. After trying the service for just one month and a half, they decided to upgrade to a Gold Supplier membership in December 2006.





"Alibaba.com is a great hub of real-time trade information which has put us in touch with buyers from around the world," remarked Vishal (CEO, DVN Traders). "Alibaba.com has several user-friendly features, from which I like TradeManager the best as it allows us to meet buyers face-to-face with just a click of a mouse" say's Niraj.





As a result of using Alibaba.com, DVN Traders has expanded its customer network to cover the US, Europe, UK, and Australian jewellery market. Alibaba.com helps the company secure more than 80 customer inquiries per month and generates close to 65% of its sales. Thanks to the company's own flexibility in catering to client requirements, coupled with the support of Alibaba.com, DVN Traders has transformed itself into a state-of-the-art jewellery brand with a per capita production capacity of 76,00,000 pieces of jewellery per annum. Most importantly, it has gained a fine reputation among its clients worldwide. In just over one year's time, Niraj Choksi and his brother built their business from one gold workshop to an established jewellery brand with a workforce of 685 skilled workers, and 7 factories.

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