After a relatively slow start to the festive season, Tanishq has been witnessing a strong surge in jewellery demand, heading into Dhanteras and Diwali, despite gold prices reaching Rs 1,30,000 levels per 10 gm.
According to Ajoy Chawla, CEO of Titan's Jewellery Division, the festive season has revived consumer sentiment and has brought back buyers who were waiting for gold prices to cool.
“Volume growth has started coming in after the start of the festive season. Until Navratra, we saw a lot of customers stay away, and therefore, volume growth was not visible,” Chawla told NDTV Profit.
“But now that people have realised that the price of gold is here to stay and is going up, all those fence-sitters have started coming back. The sentiment is clearly back," he added.
The upcoming festive season is witnessing record-high gold prices, which have surged to Rs 1.30 lakh/10 gram. But going by current trends, the sky-high prices have not dampened demand, with Ajoy Chawla believing it has instead triggered the Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) sentiment.
“We're seeing a run on gold, especially on coins and bars — maybe because of investment or FOMO. People are thinking gold prices will go up further,” he said. When asked about reports of jewellery stores running out of gold bars, Chawla added they were well-prepared to meet the surge in demand, but admitted he wouldn't be surprised if stocks ran out.
“There is a bullion shortage in the country. We have planned for it adequately, but I won't be surprised if we run out of coins. There is a worry among customers that there may be a shortage of gold,” Chawla concluded.
