Akshaya Tritiya: Amid Soaring Gold Prices, Lightweight Jewelry and Coins Surge in Sales

On Akshaya Tritiya, lightweight jewelry and precious metal coins were in high demand, as gold prices hovered 20% above the previous year's levels. Leading jewellers such as Tanishq anticipate a 20% surge in sales driven by lightweight jewelry priced between ₹50,000 and ₹1 lakh. Quick commerce platforms like Blinkit and Swiggy Instamart also saw a spike in demand, delivering gold and silver coins within 10 minutes.

Akshaya Tritiya: Lightweight Jewellery, Coins Drive Sales Amid Elevated Gold Prices

On the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya, which is traditionally considered an auspicious time to purchase gold, lightweight jewellery and precious metal coins accounted for the majority of consumer demand, industry executives have reported. The surge in gold demand was observed despite a significant increase in prices compared to the previous year.

Tanishq, a leading jewellery retailer, estimated a potential increase in sales revenue of up to 20% over the previous Akshaya Tritiya, primarily driven by lightweight jewellery priced between ₹50,000 and ₹1 lakh. Similar trends were observed by other prominent jewellers such as Joyalukkas, Senco Gold & Diamonds, and Malabar Gold & Diamonds.

Quick commerce platforms, including Blinkit, Zepto, and Swiggy Instamart, capitalized on the opportunity by offering delivery of gold and silver coins within 10 minutes. While most platforms reported a surge in demand, they declined to disclose absolute or growth figures.

As of May 10, 2023, the day of Akshaya Tritiya, gold was trading at ₹72,633 per 10 grams, representing a notable increase from ₹60,600 on April 22, 2022. Silver prices also experienced a climb during the same period, rising by 26% to ₹84,225 per kilogram.

"We have introduced 10,000 designs of lightweight jewellery and anticipate a sales increase of up to 20% (compared to last year's Akshaya Tritiya)," stated Ajoy Chawla, Chief Executive of Tanishq. "While the summer heat, ongoing elections, and high gold prices have slightly dampened the mood, there is a pent-up demand in the market. Akshaya Tritiya sales will continue on Saturday and Sunday as well. We are also witnessing strong sales of low denomination gold coins."

Tanishq adopted various incentives to cater to customer convenience, including home collection of payments due to election-related cash restrictions.

Industry executives noted a disparity in demand across different regions, with more price-sensitive eastern markets exhibiting lower sales compared to other parts of India. "We have observed a 7-10% growth in value terms, but there has been a volume degrowth of nearly 15-18%," said Suvankar Sen, Managing Director of Kolkata-based Senco Gold & Diamonds. "Footfall has also declined by 10-15%. Nonetheless, we have witnessed increased sales of wedding jewellery and lightweight and everyday jewellery in diamonds and platinum."

Joy Alukkas, Chairman of the Kerala-based Joyalukkas Group, concurred that most of the company's customers on its online platform favored lightweight jewellery. "Earrings and pendant sets are particularly popular with online shoppers. Additionally, there is significant interest in coins and gold bars. Furthermore, we have observed a noticeable demand for necklaces in our physical stores," he said.

Southern India accounted for over 40% of India's annual gold consumption, estimated at 800-850 tonnes. "Half gram and 1 gram gold beans, which we recently introduced, have received a highly enthusiastic response across all ages," said Suvankar Sen of Senco. "We have, in fact, faced supply shortages both online and offline."

Quick Uptick in Online Sales

Online platforms witnessed brisk sales of 1 gram gold and 10 gram silver coins. Swiggy Instamart, in collaboration with Malabar Gold and Muthoot Exim, facilitated the delivery of coins. Phani Kishan A, Swiggy's Instamart Head, announced that the platform received its first order for coins at 12:21 am from Chandigarh. "Orders for gold and silver coins began at midnight on Akshaya Tritiya and are now flying off the shelves!" he exclaimed. He also shared a graph illustrating the surge in coin orders on Instamart from 6 am onwards, indicating that coin sales were six times higher compared to Dhanteras in October 2022.

Zepto partnered with the investment tech platform Jar to sell gold coins from its in-house jewellery brand, Nek. "As of 5 pm today (Friday), we have delivered over 20 kg of gold and silver coins," reported Aadit Palicha, Zepto's Co-Founder and Chief Executive. "We are on track to surpass our total sales from last year's Diwali," he noted in a LinkedIn post.

Blinkit's Chief Executive, Albinder Dhindsa, previously announced on Twitter that the company would cater to demands for authentic gold and silver coins "and more in 10 minutes."

With contributions from Jessica Rajan in New Delhi.