Tanishq eyes bigger share in jewellery market
Titan’s brand Tanishq, one of the leaders in the organized jewellery market, still does not have a significant presence in India’s massive wedding segment
Watches and accessories firm Titan Co Ltd’s brand Tanishq, one of the leaders in the organized jewellery market, still does not have a significant presence in India’s massive wedding segment—something the company plans to change through its newest sub-brand Rivaah. Titan has been working on initiatives targeted at increasing its wedding segment sales by creating special design lines for the Rivaah jewellery brand and also special wedding zones within its retail stores.
“We have substantially increased our presence (in the wedding segment), starting with community-relevant products. That was the biggest gap because we really did not have those, say, 21 pieces which make up the Bengali trousseau or the 17 which make up the Punjabi trousseau and so on. So we started with filling that,” C.K. Venkataraman, head of Titan’s jewellery division, said in an interview.
Getting its jewellery strategy on point is crucial for the company since Rs10,237 crore of the Rs12,717 crore in revenue it earned in 2016-17, came from jewellery sales. The division was also the fastest growing among Titan’s three key product categories last year, recording a 17.4% annual growth rate over 2015-16. In comparison, watches grew 2.7%, while eyewear grew 8.4%.
But there are still more opportunities for growth. India’s organised jewellery market grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.5% between 2012 and 2017, according to data from research firm Euromonitor International. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.6% between 2017 and 2022.
Wedding jewellery accounts for at least 50% of the total jewellery purchases in the country, Venkataraman estimates. Historically, Tanishq has not been strong in that segment even though it has always had brand appeal. Venkataraman puts that down to a limited range and low perception of the brand as a wedding jeweller.
To remedy that, Titan decided the segment was strong enough to merit its own sub-brand under the Tanishq umbrella. It launched Rivaah in March and has now taken the sub-brand to all its 220 Tanishq stores. This is only the second sub-brand the firm has launched under Tanishq after Mia, its range of workwear jewellery was created in 2011.
Titan has also launched various collections for the wedding category like its recent Divyam and Shubham ranges. It is now about to launch another one called Padmavati, in time for the festival season. The collection is being introduced in collaboration with an upcoming movie of the same name for which Titan has created the jewellery.
The company has created prominent wedding zones at many of its retail stores – with the aim of drawing customers as well as communicating to them that Tanishq has a significant wedding jewellery portfolio.
“It’s certainly growing significantly (sales from the wedding segment) and we are becoming a bigger and bigger player in that,” Venkataraman said, without disclosing what percentage of total jewellery sales comes from the wedding segment currently.
Titan holds 3.2% of the organised jewellery market in India, which is led by Kalyan Jewellers India Pvt. Ltd with a 3.7% share, according to Euromonitor.
