Kirtilals, a Coimbatore-based diamond and gold jewellery manufacturer and retailer, finds that with the advent of social media and online sales strategies, customers are migrating to ROPO (research online and purchase offline) model across India.
Talking to DH, Kirtilals Head (Marketing and Business Development) Arun Kumar said, “We opened our first store in 1939 and have been serving many generations. However, things have changed today, people are moving towards ROPO model. With the growing penetration of mobile phones, online search and social media have become great opinion builders.”
Kumar explained that the company has over five lakh designs on its archive. “We began promoting our brand through digital marketing four years ago. To ensure that research happens online, we need to be very strong in the digital space, along with SEO (search engine option),” he said.
The company takes care of experiential shopping via online with website showing catalogues of products. “We recently launched an iPad application to enhance the customer’s buying experience at the store. With the new iPad application, customers can explore and browse designs available at Kirtilals’ data bank, and opt to virtually try on the pieces,” he said.
Ecommerce sales
Recently, the company tied up with Amazon as part of expanding its online reach and received good response. “Customers visit Amazon and do lot of research in terms of design, price. However, more customers prefer purchasing offline at a store, where they are able to touch and feel the diamonds,” Kumar added.
Kirtilals celebrated its 11th year in Bengaluru on Thursday, and launched a new range of light-weight diamond necklaces starting from Rs 77,000.
“With the changing trend, customers are opting for diamond jewellery more for daily wear, than just occasional wear. At this price point, even gold buyers can be targeted to diamonds, which is an aspiration of any woman,” he said.
Besides Karnataka, the company is present in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala. “Tamil Nadu dominates in market share with 40-50%, followed by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,” Kumar said.