25 years on, Kalyan Jewellers charts out aggressive growth plans

Kalyan Jewellers, one of the leading jewellery brands, recently completed 25 years in India. Over the years, the company has grown to be one of the largest jewellery manufacturers and distributors in India. Starting with a single showroom in 1993, the brand’s footprint extends to multiple showrooms across India as well as abroad. 

In April 2017, Kalyan Jewellers acquired Candere, an online jewellery portal, thus strengthening its digital footprint. 

Kalyan Jewellers has also been present in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) since 2013 and has operations in the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Kuwait. It has set industry benchmarks in quality, transparent pricing and innovation, offering an array of traditional and contemporary jewellery designs in gold, diamond and precious stones.  

Today, Kalyan Jewellers has 132 showrooms across India and in five countries, with plans to open 20 more showrooms in India in FY2019. 

In conversation with Adgully, TS Kalyanaraman, Chairman and Managing Director, Kalyan Jewellers, speaks about the company’s expansion plans, brand philosophy, the road ahead and more. Excerpts: 

How has Kalyan Jewellers’ brand journey been?
Our family ventured into the textile manufacturing and retailing space 108 years ago. Kalyan Jewellers entered the jewellery business 25 years ago with a single showroom in Thrissur, Kerala in 1993. As a brand, we have always focused on customer experience, innovation and transparent pricing. Kalyan’s business credo is “Trust is Everything” and we have maintained a customer-centric model that focuses on integrity, trust, transparency and innovation which is replicated in all markets. 

Which are the key markets for Kalyan Jewellers? Going forward, which markets are you targetting?
Kalyan Jewellers is present in 16 states across India and in 5 countries with 132 showrooms globally, out of which 100 are in India. In every market that we have entered, we have been able to successfully maintain a promising market share. 

This financial year, we plan to open 20 showrooms – of which 10 showrooms have already been launched. We will be opening the remaining 10 showrooms in Q3 and Q4 of this year. 

We are planning to expand our brand’s footprint in North and Central India. We have entered a number of states this year, like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Assam. Our on-ground teams are working to analyse and shortlist other potential markets that we can enter. 

How are you strategising to increase your global presence?
We have plans to enter the US market, but with regards to the strategy and expansion plans, it’s too early to comment. However, at Kalyan Jewellers, our strategy is a customer-centric approach that focusses on integrity, trust, transparency and innovation, and it will be replicated in all markets. 

What forms the core of your marketing strategy?
We follow a multi-channel marketing strategy. Apart from TV and radio commercials, hoardings and print ads, we also engage in on-ground activation. These engagements are conducted either in the showrooms or our brand associates with various events happening in the key markets. The brand focuses on various campaigns and contests. For every major festival, we run campaigns across the country. 

Additionally, we also tie up with various entities like airlines, banks and publications as part of the many loyalty programmes that Kalyan Jewellers has. 

What is your annual advertising budget?
Approximately 2 per cent of our annual revenue is allocated to advertising. 

What does the road ahead look like?
We have been in the Indian jewellery industry for 25 years and have recently hit a very big milestone of launching our 100^th store in India. We will continue to expand our presence in the key markets. We constantly innovate in terms of product and also bring in innovation, wherever possible, in jewellery retail.