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Vummidi Bangaru eyes eight new showrooms in three years
City based heirloom brand Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers, is betting big on the demand for diamonds, not just in Southern metros, but even Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, to drive its revenues in the highly competitive jewellery space.
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Chennai
The company that has made significant investments in synthetic diamond screening systems is planning an expansion of its retail footprint with 7-8 new showrooms across the south in the next 2-3 years.
Giving us an idea of the growth in the diamond business in the price sensitive southern market, Amarendran Vummidi, Managing Director, Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers, said, “We have seen that the diamond business is growing even faster than the gold business, in such a traditional market such as the South. While diamonds have shown a double-digit growth this year, gold has shown a single digit growth. The shift in preferences is representative of the evolving consumer behaviour especially among millennials.”
He adds, “It’s interesting to note that around 30 per cent of out the customer base for diamonds comes from Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Customers are now looking for a subtle, design centric, value proposition when it comes to their jewellery purchases with diamonds playing a major role, as opposed to a few years go when gold used to rule the roost, no matter what the occasion, in any region.”
The company currently has three showrooms, two in Chennai and one in Bengaluru and is looking at an aggressive expansion strategy in the coming few years. Amarendran says, “We will be expanding with 7-8 new showrooms over the next 2-3 years across South India. Depending on the demand and supply mechanics in both metros and small towns, we will plan our foray in prospective cities.”
Amarendran is also optimistic about the potential of the online space as a driver for the jewellery business. He tells us, that the company’s in-house, own brand e-commerce portal Zaamor Diamonds currently contributes to a small percentage of the company’s revenues.
“But we envision a robust growth to take place in this segment in the next few years. Once the online space matures, we can look at a 20 to 30 per cent growth in the segment. Currently, we have close to about 3 lakh solitaire stones listed on our site, which is greater than many of the online jewellery portals.”
India’s 1st synthetic diamond screening device: MD
The jewellery brand recently set up what it says is the industry’s first synthetic diamond screening device for set jewellery, for the first time in India. And it has good reasons to do so. The global synthetic diamond market in the Asia Pacific region is estimated to be worth $7,496 mn and is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 7.0% till 2023. SYNTHdetect - a machine supported by the technology from the International Institute of Diamond Grading & Research (IIDGR, a subsidiary of De Beers Group), is capable of differentiating natural diamonds from synthetic lab-grown diamonds. Amarendran says, “We have invested in the range of Rs 2 crore on screening systems including lenses, microscopes and other devices as the proliferation of synthetic lab grown diamonds is a growing concern in the jewellery business globally.”
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