Jewellery showrooms in the city witnessed robust sales on Tuesday as customers thronged the shops to purchase jewellery and devotional items in precious metal on the occasion of Akshaya Tritya.
“Sales are better than last year,” Mr. Venugopal, manager of GRT Jewellers, told The Hindu . “Since Akshaya Tritya is believed to be a day of bounty, we have had many people buying gold jewellery, especially wedding trousseau ornaments, from the time we opened our doors at 6 a.m.,” he added. The trend this year seems to be towards plain gold jewellery, meant for personal use, he said and added that there had been a good response to the store’s festive offers of free silver for every gram of gold purchased.
At the Tanishq showroom across the road, customers were checking out the latest in the Tata brand’s collections.
“Gold coins, and of late, diamond jewellery have become very popular during Akshaya Tritya day,” said S. Vadivu, store manager. Despite the pressure on gold prices internationally (due to a stronger U.S. dollar), the demand for the metal was strong in the city, she said. “Since we have a fixed rate, for the entire southern region, our customers are not too affected by price fluctuations,” she said.
Many people prefer to book in advance to buy. “We have new collections introduced just for Akshaya Tritiya, which customers may book in a week in advance if they wish. But we prefer to retain the price on the day of sale rather than on the day of delivery,” said Ms. Vadivu.
Women were the primary consumers and buyers in most shopping groups, she said. “Women like to try the jewellery before buying it, so online retailing hasn’t made much of an impact here. Even in the metro cities, customers prefer to buy small jewellery rather than big ornaments online.”
At the KMS Jewellery, staff were busy attending to customers, most of whom were inclined towards silver items. “Ours is a family business of over 50 years,” said a manager. “We have a customer base of several generations, and most of them prefer traditional jewellery. Silver articles used for prayer are popularly bought during Akshaya Tritya,” he said.
