Is Consolidation on the Cards for Jewelry Industry

India’s fashion jewelry industry, a Rs 30,000 crore behemoth, has been in existence for ages. The difference has been only in the metal used for making the jewelry viz. gold for precious v/s brass, copper amongst others for fashion jewelry. The category which was earlier considered a taboo due to its low pricing and ‘copy’ or ‘replica’ or ‘imitation’ of the precious counterpart, has come out of the shadow of precious jewelry in the last decade to now be the trendsetter in fashion to be now termed as ‘fashion’ jewelry. This has been possible thanks to three major disruptors of the last decade in India viz. changing consumer preferences, technology, and e-commerce.

With the per-capita income increasing across the country, disposable income has been available for not just procurement of daily necessities but also towards fashion accessories. Earlier which was considered as discretionary spending has become a daily wear requirement to make a style statement in the micro-community. This has led to spending across the fashion and accessories category over the last decade which has supported growth in this industry.

The advent of technology especially CAD, CAM has been a boon for this industry with the quality and finishing now being highly superior with long-lasting durability despite the daily use of this jewelry. The advent of e-commerce has been a boon for the quality-conscious brands in this space to aid the penetration deeper into tier-II towns and beyond the ‘Bharat’ and not restrict the same to the select few in cities of ‘India’.

The industry which has been highly fragmented due to the localized nature of the distribution prior to the previous decade has now started to move towards a more nationalized as well as global play with the disruptions caused by technology and e-commerce. Quite a few brands have recently emerged in this industry which has the customer base, technical support, and the omnichannel distribution to not just be a nationalized brand but also spread the goodness of Indian fashion jewelry across the globe. All this despite being completely cohesive in their design sensibilities and quality ensuring consistency for the 1st as well as the millionth consumer and beyond in terms of design and quality.

Given the change in the consumer preferences towards this industry and the growth of brands in the industry in the last decade itself, the industry is still in the nascent stages of growth. The movement from design play to brand play in the minds of the consumer is currently still ongoing and is in the nascent stages. This provides a platform for consumer and quality-focused brands to grow significantly despite competition from other non-branded and localized players as well. As such, this industry has enough opportunities for brands to grow organically.