Plan to roll out 30 more stores by year end
Plan to roll out 30 more stores by year end

Diamonds, Solitaires, are something every women desire. And if the designs are contemporary and global, then nothing like it. What happens in e-retail business for diamonds? Let’s talk to Mithun Sacheti - Co-Founder & CEO CaratLane.com.

How is the Indian market for Diamonds?

The Indian market for diamonds is large and lucrative.


Odeal DSouza: How does marketing happen on the online retail business for Diamonds?

Mithun Sacheti: We take 360 degree approach to marketing as we see ourselves as an omni-channel jewellery brand. We invest equally in building brand and building the business.


Is the business seasonal?

The business is not seasonal, but surely during festivals there is much more demand than the normal days.


What are the new ventures Caratlane is coming up with?

We have three sales channels that we are developing: Online, Retail Stores and Try-at-home and are exploring other new age channels.

 Regarding our brick-and-mortar, we already have 6 retail stores. They are very different from the typical Indian jewellery store, which tend to be very large, with a guard and an usher who walks you in. They are elitist by nature. Our stores are designed for the customer who walks into a mall or a duty-free shop. There is no glass and you can walk right up to the products. You can touch, feel and experience the jewellery with any pressure. It’s more inviting than what the retail store environment currently is in India and our stores are already doing very well. Our plan is to roll out 30 stores by the end of this financial year.

 Our try-at-home sales channel appeals to consumers who would rather buy something in the comfort of their own home. Consumers can select up to five products and a well-trained salesman will carry those products and more to their house for them to try on. We were the first to launch this sales channel for jewellery in India.

What is the idea behind Caratlane?

We saw the online jewellery retail market develop in the U.S., so we thought we might be able to use the Internet to run a better distribution system in India. We decided to find a way to sell jewellery and diamond solitaires online. It was an obvious bet to make given the growing Internet-savvy younger generation in India. The other trend we noticed was that until the mid-2000s, the diamond jewellery business in India was focused on selling to upper middle class and wealthy customers that make up the top 5 per cent of the population. All of the stores and diamond jewellery brands were marketing toward that demographic and were aggressively promoting bridal diamond jewellery in particular. In the U.S., jewellery brands advertise and sell across a wide spectrum of price points. There is something for everyone in the U.S, while diamond jewellery in India is very elitist. At Carat Lane, we provide jewellery at a price point that is very different from what the Indian customer was used to before we started the company.

 Any new ventures, schemes, ideas

Scheme: This Akshaya Tritiya, CaratLane.com offers striking discounts. One can avail flat 25% off on gorgeous and stunning Diamond and Gemstone jewellery on orders above Rs.30, 000,  one can also avail flat 10 % & 5 % off on diamond and gemstone jewellery on orders above Rs. 15,000/- & above Rs 5,000/-  respectively  from CaratLane.com.

That’s not it! On the auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya, CaratLane.com offers guaranteed home delivery in a few cities like Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Pune & Kolkata.

Are your designs global?

We offer jewellery designs are contemporary and chic.

Where is the market more, the South India or North India?

North India is a bigger and lucrative market for us.


What is different or special about Caratlane?

We view the retail jewellery trade as our primary competition. We are trying to find ways to make it easy for consumers to switch and try buying online because of the many benefits. CaratLane.com jewellery differentiates itself through its design philosophy, catering to the refined tastes of the Indian consumer with a global outlook. Our brand is now associated with various design innovations around social and cultural motifs and contemporary style. We have in-house designers and our own manufacturing facility. This allows us to be quick to market with new contemporary designs for jewellery, while maintaining strict control on quality and finish.

Some of our key differentiators:

CaratLane.com provides its consumers the advantage of price. Consumers can avail solitaires from CaratLane.com up to 40% lesser value than any other retailers in the country.

CaratLane.com is the first online jewellery portal to introduce a Try At Home service wherein customers can choose up to five designs online without any upfront payment and CaratLane.com will arrange to send right designs to the customer’s preferred address to try and enjoy personalised, experienced attention. Once customers make their pick, they can make the purchase instantly or go online again and place an order. If in case they do not like any pieces, they may not necessarily buy it.

CaratLane.com is also offering a new service – Same day delivery in Chennai for orders placed before 12pm. Also, same day shipping on selected products in other cities for orders received before 12pm. An increase in conversion rates on certain products due to reduction in shipping lead time, they have decided to make the service available to all their bestsellers.

CaratLane.com has a 30-Day exchange and Money Back policy: If you are not satisfied with your product, you could return it to us within 30 days of receipt for a refund or exchange on the full Invoice value.

We also provide Lifetime Exchange: You can, of course, exchange your CaratLane.com product anytime after 30 days. If at any point of time you want to exchange or upgrade the product, we will happily provide you with an exchange

Why online retail?

CaratLane.com was started with the ambition of removing the pain points of the jewellery retailing industry, unleashing value to the end consumers’ through education, aggregation, just-in-time inventory, transparency and outstanding customer service.  We chose this category as we were confident of adding significant value to end consumers’ with a unique business model and category understanding.


What are the hurdles in this business?

Online jewellery is a fairly nascent category in India, and the key challenge is to establish online as an option that consumers should consider when they plan to buy jewellery. Trust plays a key role in this, and we have to take a number of steps to establish the trust factor among consumers.All our products are certified from internationally reputed labs, and we take utmost care during shipping using tamper proof packaging. Jewellery is fully insured during transit. We use SSL technology, the most widely used data encryption coding system for secure eCommerce transactions.

Traditionally, customers prefer to touch, feel and try on jewellery before making a purchase. Addressing this need, CaratLane.com chooses to pamper its customers by offering them a Try At Home Service.

CaratLane.com, whose fabulous creations speak a universal language of emotion and Style, has made available ‘Try at Home’ service to over 20 major cities. Where customers can choose up to five designs online without any upfront payment and CaratLane.com will arrange to send right designs with ideal size and fitting to the customer’s preferred address to try and enjoy personalised, experienced attention. Once customers make their pick, they can make the purchase instantly or go online again and place an order. As India’s leading online jewellery brand, CaratLane.com ensure customers to save up to 25% over retail prices. One can choose from an exclusive range of pendants, earrings, bangles, bracelets and finger rings to Try At Home.

How the market is overseas for diamonds?

If you look at diamond jewelry e-tailers in the U.S., their product mix is heavily weighted toward solitaires, even though diamond jewellery is a business with much healthier margins. As a result, their profit margins are very thin.

Do you have demand from overseas?

Yes we do have a demand from overseas.

Please tell me about yourself?

I finished my undergrad studies and took the first flight out to the USA, to enroll and get certified as a gemologist from the Gemmological Institute of America, California (GIA). My passion for jewellery and all things diamond drove me to set up first store (for Jaipur Gems), just a few days after my return! After overseeing Jaipur Gem’s expansion into South India, including into Chennai and Coimbatore, Mithun headed towards eCommerce.

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