De Beers sees 15% sales jump in 2021 over pre-Covid year

Kolkata: Bullish over upcoming wedding season and festivals,

De Beers India

, the owner of newly christened

De Beers

Forevermark brand of diamonds, expects 10-15% jump in its 2021 sales over the pre-Covid level of 2019. The

diamond

major had witnessed a 17% dip in its India sales in Covid 19-hit 2020 against its 2019 number.

“We are hopeful that 2021 will be a strong year. Following the market reopening, both June and July sales have resonated strongly to the industry. There is a pent-up demand since Akshay Tritiya as a lot of weddings are taking place now amid the fear of third wave of Covid-19 pandemic. The industry is buoyant and optimistic as new retailers are coming in,” said

Sachin Jain

, MD of De Beers India, on the sidelines of Forevermark Forum, the annual B2B event which was held virtually last year.

The Forum also saw good traction for its newly unveiled designer collection Avaanti, which is the company’s first global line. “We are piloting a Code of Origin project for diamond quality verification, which will be launched next year,” Jain said.

According to the industry, Rs 5 lakh crore worth of diamonds will be in demand worldwide by 2030. “We are targeting to sell around 250,000 units of diamond by 2021-end,” said Jain.

Sensing the surge in demand, De Beers India is planning to take the number of its exclusive stores to 35 by 2022 from 13 at present. The company’s total point of sales would go up to 325 by next year-end from the current level of 275.

Despite the Covid-19-induced lockdown and subsequent surge in online sales across all the products, the high-value diamond market is yet to catch up with that trend.

“Prospective customers are spending time on our new hybrid e-commerce sites for checking on product lines and doing research on designs before coming to our outlets more informed. We don’t foresee a large chunk of buyers switching to online purchase for our normal range worth Rs 80,000-Rs 1 lakh,” he admitted.


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