Sheetal Shah, 57, bought a pair of gold earrings for
her daughter on Tuesday. She didn't mind waiting for half an hour before a
sales assist ant at the C G Road store could free herself from the rush to help
her out. “It is Dhanteras after all,“ she jus tified.
Roopal Patel, a cosmetolo gist, bought a gold
necklace.
“Dhanteras is an auspicious day to buy gold. I buy
gold on Dhanteras every year. This time, bought heavy gold jewellery as the
price has dropped,“ said the 36-year-old.
Amdavadis thronged to jewellery shops on Dhanteras,
pushing sale of gold 20 per cent higher than last year.While this is the
heaviest gold buying period of the year, according to jewellers, the rush can
also be attributed to drop in gold price.
Shantibhai Patel, president of Jewellers'
Association, said, “Last year, the price of gold and silver was higher. In
2013, gold price was Rs 30,000 per 10 gm.This has fallen to Rs 27,000 this
year. So, more and more people were encouraged to buy gold.“
“The comfortable pricing led to a surge in total sale
of gold by 15-20 per cent compared to last year,“ Patel added.
Echoing the same opinion, Bharatbhai Zaveri of Zaveri
& Co said, “Gold market is doing really well this year. Looking at the
market trend, we expect a 50 per cent surge in gold sales by the end of
Dhanteras, as compared to last year.“
However, Megha Chakravarty, a 23-year-old fund
manager, believes price of the yellow metal is irrelevant. “This year, I bought
a gold coin as an investment. People have bought and will continue to buy gold
irrespective of the price,“ she said.
ONLINE SALES SPIKE
Customers bought heavy jewellery the most, followed
by gold coins, said jewellers. Online jewellery sale has also seen a surge of
up to 300 per cent. Calvin John, vice-president (of fline marketing) of
CaratLane, an online gold selling portal said, “In comparison to regular days,
we witnessed 5 times more traffic during Dhanteras celebration.“ He added,
“Ahmedabad features amongst our top 10 cities. We are witnessing growth in
triple digits.“
GOOD SERVICES DRAW CUSTOMERS
Similarly, Bluestone, another jewellery selling
portal, also claimed to be witnessing three times more traffic than usual days
with the ongoing festivity and Diwali rush. Asked why Amdavadis are opting for
online jewellery shopping, Gaurav Singh Kushwaha, founder of Bluestone.com,
said, “Online shopping is not only convenient but comfortable too.With a
customer delight team serving from 7 am to midnight, customers can be assured
that all queries and problems will be taken care of promptly. People feel far
less pressured shopping online as compared to retail stores where they feel compelled
to buy if they spend considerable time browsing.“
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