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<ul><li><keyword id="255703" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="bluestone" source="Orion">BlueStone</keyword> is looking forward to opening its third manufacturing unit in <keyword id="6354779" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="jaipur" source="Orion">Jaipur</keyword> and will be looking forward to hiring 400 employees over the next 3-4 months.</li><li>The <keyword id="727556" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="jewellery-retailer" source="Orion">jewellery retailer</keyword> is rapidly scaling operations across the country with new warehouses and stores coming up in many cities.</li><li>Till date, the company has raised $70.1 million in external funding.</li></ul>BlueStone, a Bengaluru-based <keyword id="13123234" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-jewellery-platform" source="Orion">online jewellery platform</keyword>, is planning to open its third manufacturing unit in Jaipur and will be looking forward to hiring 400 employees over the next 3-4 months. As part of the expansion plan, the jewellery retailer will be hiring across various domains like production, warehouse, logistics and design functions for their <keyword id="3386928" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="new-manufacturing-unit" source="Orion">new manufacturing unit</keyword> in Jaipur. The existing two other manufacturing units of the company are located in Mumbai with a total work area of 12,000 square feet (sq. ft) and with an employee count of around 500. BlueStone is rapidly scaling operations across the country with new warehouses and stores coming up in many cities, catering to the growing demand. The new manufacturing unit will help the brand meet the rising demand for its products. “With the launch of our new manufacturing unit in Jaipur, we have expanded our production capacity three-fold, which is required to meet the scale at which we operate at present, having opened 68 new stores over the last 2 years and with plans to open more in the months ahead,” said Gaurav Singh Kushwaha, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of BlueStone.com. Kushwaha further said, “We intend to double the size and capacity of the new manufacturing unit in about a year from now with the premise having an additional 20,000 sq ft of space that could be utilised. Our customers will stand to benefit from reduced production timelines and good air connectivity from Jaipur, resulting in quicker deliveries.” In 2020, the jewellery retailer raised a series E round funding of ₹14.73 crore from its existing investors Accel, IIFL Seed Ventures Fund, Kalaari Capital, Iron Pillar Fund, Ivycap Ventures and Saama Capital. Till date the company has raised $70.1 million in external funding. Founded by Vidya Nataraj and Kushwaha in 2011, BlueStone claims to ship in-house designed jewellery across 25,000 pin codes in the country and internationally to the US, Canada, UK and Australia. It also has 65 physical stores in over 22 cities, including Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai, Hyderabad and New Delhi. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/education/news/meet-santishree-dhulipudi-pandit-the-first-female-vice-chancellor-of-jawaharlal-nehru-university/slidelist/89409341.cms">Meet Santishree Dhulipudi Pandit, the first female vice-chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/investment/news/sundar-pichai-pegs-googles-web3-ambitions-to-the-cloud/articleshow/89409184.cms">Sundar Pichai pegs Google’s Web3 ambitions to the cloud</a>

Online jewellery platform BlueStone to hire 400 people in the next 3-4 months

<ul><li>With Diwali festivities just around the corner, digital payment platforms such as <keyword id="143842" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mobikwik">Mobikwik</keyword>, PayTm and Google Pay are luring Indians with smart investment option — <keyword id="4465249" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-gold">digital gold</keyword>. </li><li>Mobikwik has launched a festive exchange which will allow converting 1 gram of digital gold in exchange for the gold jewellery. It will also add 1 gm of digital gold in buyer’s account. </li><li>The offer is valid between October 23 and 28, 2019. </li><li>Digital gold can be bought in quantities as low as ₹1.</li></ul>With Diwali festivities around the corner, digital payment platforms such as Mobikwik, PayTm and Google Pay are luring Indians with smart investment options — digital gold. With gold soaring a six year high this Diwali, there isn’t much of a rush to buy gold. Jewellers too are trying to attract buyers with promotional offers. Meanwhile, Mobikwik launched a festive exchange, in partnership with SafeGold. SafeGold is a joint venture between Invent Capital, a private equity firm, and <keyword id="113718" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="World-Gold-Council">World Gold Council</keyword>. The ‘exchange one get one’ offer will allow converting 1 gram of digital gold in exchange for gold jewellery. Additionally, it will add 1 gm of digital gold in buyer’s account. The offer is valid between October 23 and 28, 2019. “Indians have always had a passion for buying gold, particularly on auspicious occasions. Demand for gold is interwoven with culture, tradition, and planning for financial protection in times of crisis,” Upasana Taku, Co-founder, MobiKwik<a href="https://www.zeebiz.com/personal-finance/news-planning-to-buy-gold-on-diwali-this-platform-is-giving-double-than-what-you-pay-for-112891"> told </a>Zee Business. ‘Digital gold’ is the buying and selling of gold via mobile wallets and digital platforms. From gold coins and bars to gold jewellery, the platforms offer gold in digital form. The digital method allows one to buy 99.9% 24 karat gold. And it can be bought in quantities as low as ₹1 or grams digitally — which can be redeemed at a jewellery or gold store. However, the prices of digital gold are highly volatile. So, the price is valid for merely 6 minutes. Users can buy digital gold via online wallets and store it in online accounts — which are linked to Gold Accumulation Plan (GAP). While the <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/pf/digital-gold-a-convenient-investment-method-or-a-ponzi-scheme-in-making-119041800720_1.html">prices of gold</a> may vary between 4%-5% on the retail price of gold from the actual price, the price variation on digital gold is said to vary between 1.5% to 2%. It can be kept for a maximum of five years and there is no extra storage cost. Ever since the launch, the digital gold market has seen strong growth. It estimated over 80 million people who had digital accounts as of March 2019. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/diwali-sales-snapdeal-launches-an-online-store-for-dhanteras-will-sell-gold-coins/articleshow/71704385.cms">Snapdeal launches an e-store for Dhanteras – with gold, silver coins and more</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/google-pays-new-tactic-to-take-on-rivals-paytm-phonepe-in-india-introduces-digital-gold-offerings/articleshow/68609832.cms">Google Pay wants to offer Indians their favourite investment option – gold</a>

Can’t afford gold coins or jewellery this Diwali? You can now buy gold worth ₹1

<ul><li>In a year when many businesses are still on their road to recovery, omnichannel jewellery brand <keyword id="686987" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="CaratLane">CaratLane</keyword> has posted a 38% YoY growth in Q3.</li><li>We speak to <keyword id="2380977" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mithun-Sacheti">Mithun Sacheti</keyword>, Founder and Managing Director, CaratLane about the brand's performance, and his growth strategy for CaratLane.</li></ul>Last week, omnichannel jewellery brand CaratLane declared its quarterly results, and for a quarter when most businesses are trying to recover from the impact of 2020, the brand shared it achieved 38% YoY growth. In fact, November 2020 (the month of Dhanteras) turned out to be the first-ever Rs 100 crores+ month for the company. “The change in consumer behavior during the months of lockdown has given a boost to all direct-to-consumer brands, and we have been a big beneficiary too. There was a robust consumer demand even post-Diwali. During Diwali we had thought it might be the pent-up demand but we soon realized it was not that. People were just consuming all things that conveyed sentiments. So if people’s desire is to buy jewellery and buy it online, we’re a net beneficiary of a greater magnitude than everybody else. So, while people are talking about recovery rates, we're talking about high growth rates,” explained Mithun Sacheti, Founder and Managing Director, CaratLane. The company recorded revenues of Rs 273 crore in Q3. Its online business delivered a growth of 68%. The brand’s online buying experience has got a boost with Try at Home and CaratLane LIVE - a video call service to enable customers to either see the jewellery before they buy or get a video consultation with an in-house jewellery expert. the Try at Home service saw a growth of 37% in Q3 and has been scaled up to 15 cities, with Patna, Ludhiana and Chandigarh added in Q3. The pandemic led to more and more becoming comfortable with buying jewellery online leading to a lot of first-time users on its platform. “The pandemic led to huge changes in consumer behavior. We saw lots of first-time users. Also, a lot of Tier II and Tier III users who would not have been so savvy and comfortable with buying digitally before had their access restricted to online. We also saw a lot of older people shop on our platform too,” he said. Meanwhile, more and more people are returning to their retail outlets too. Its retail business saw a strong rebound and delivered a growth of 43% over the same period last year.Like-to-like growth for the quarter stood at 9%, with 17% LTL growth for high street stores. Founded in 2008 with the motto of making beautiful jewellery accessible, affordable, and forever wearable, Sacheti said the task now at hand is in making this a reality. The launch of its silver jewellery brand Shaya, is a step towards achieving this goal. “We identified a challenge quote early, that we don't serve everybody. If you look at what is sold to a farmer or to the household help, you will realize those products are not led by design. They are led by an investment philosophy. Our goal is to marry the two and deliver something that makes reasonable commercial sense but at the same time, makes you feel proud of wearing it. Jewelry as an industry is still using the same manufacturing techniques it was using 100-200 years ago. If we were to innovate and solve for these problems, we will we will continue to grow the market to a larger audience, which is not able to afford it today. As an industry, we don't work hard enough on the lower price point. We should, because that's the future,” he added. Moreover, the brand is also focusing on the children’s segment, which Sacheti maintains has been witnessing robust enthusiasm and growth. The brand is already working on going deeper into the country and aims at taking its store count from the current 109 to 120 by the end of 2021.

While businesses are talking about recovery rates, we're talking about high growth rates: Mithun Sacheti, CaratLane

NEW DELHI: If you are swiping your card regularly or making online transactions, you are most likely buying clothes. According to <keyword id="6368201" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="MasterCard">MasterCard</keyword>, apparel is the top category across all metros in the country. And, people in Chennai spend the most on clothes and jewellery, followed closely by Bengaluru. 
 
“Penetration of electronic payments is still very low in India but there is an immense opportunity. The roll out of the identity project (Aadhaar) will provide a great platform for commerce and all sort of things can be built on that platform,” said Ann Cairns, president, international markets, MasterCard. 
 
MasterCard, said to be the world’s second-largest payment and technology firm, opened its analysis centre in Delhi last year. It’s looking to process an ever-growing amount of global data, now at 10 petabytes (a million gigabytes), and sell information as a stand-alone product, or provide consulting based on that. 
 “Because our data is online and real time, we can tell what people are really buying, what consumers are doing in the <keyword id="34412" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="40" keywordseo="economy">economy</keyword> and we are not just relying on our information but co-relating with external sources,” said Cairns. According to MasterCard data, foreign travellers are largely from the US, UK and UAE and they spend mostly on jewellery and giftware. 
 
“In some cases, cross-border transactions have fallen because Europeans are travelling within the continent and not outside,” explained Cairns. 
 Within India, <keyword id="31669" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="spending">spending</keyword> in cities such as Lucknow, Visakhapatnam, Chandigarh and Nagpur are growing more rapidly than in the metros. 
 
The payment company is hopeful that India will follow trends that have been observed in some of Far Eastern countries. “There, transactions are shifting more online, (there’s a) massive increase in cross-border commerce. In places like South Korea, we have seen people buying things directly from America through online (sites),” said Cairns. 
 According to an <keyword id="6355988" type="CITY" weightage="40" keywordseo="Assocham">Assocham</keyword> report, India’s e-commerce market, which stood at $2.5 billion in 2009, reached $8.5 billion in 2012 and rose 88% to touch $16 billion in 2013. The survey estimates the country’s e-commerce market to reach $56 billion by 2023, driven by rising online retail. Last week, the industry body had asked the government to remove the ban on <keyword id="382868" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="FDI-in-retail">FDI in retail</keyword> e-commerce business.

Metros SpendMmost On Apparels Online, Says MasterCard

<ul><li><keyword id="4465249" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-gold">Digital gold</keyword> is luring Indian consumers on the festival of Akshay Tritiya this year. </li><li>In March, digital payments arm of Google, Google Pay also launched gold investment options to its customers in India. </li><li>Ever since the launch, the digital gold market has seen strong growth, with an estimated over 80 million people who had digital accounts as of March 2019.</li></ul>Indians love and swear by gold as a trusted investment asset so much they even have festivals popular for buying gold. Akshay Tritiya, an annual spring festival in India, is one such fare. But this year, the festival has taken a digital twist. With the launch of ‘<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/google-pays-new-tactic-to-take-on-rivals-paytm-phonepe-in-india-introduces-digital-gold-offerings/articleshow/68609832.cms">Digital Gold’</a> in India, Indians considering buying gold on the occasion of <keyword id="126295" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Akshaya-Tritiya">Akshaya Tritiya</keyword>, also have a number of digital options if they fancy. Given that, National Stock Exchange (NSE) is even conducting a <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/money/digital-gold-vs-sovereign-gold-bond-vs-gold-etf-vs-jewellery-important-watch-outs-before-you-buy-gold-on-akshay-tritiya/1569187/">trade session</a> dedicated to gold exchange and trade on Tuesday, on account of Akshaya Tritiya to give Indians this “smart investment option.” In March, digital payments arm of Google, Google Pay also launched gold investment options to its customers in India. What is ‘Digital Gold?’ ‘Digital gold’ is basically buying and selling of gold via online platforms and mobile wallets. These sites are reportedly offering everything from gold coins, gold bars and even gold jewellery, but in the form of ‘digital gold.’ The digital method allows one to buy 99.9% 24 karat gold. One can buy gold in small quantities in rupees or grams digitally and that can be redeemed at a physical gold shop against jewellery or sold later. However, the price at which the digital gold is sold is valid for only for 6 minutes. Where to buy? Digital wallets including Google Pay, PhonePe, Mobikwik and PayTm, among others have all rolled out the ‘digital gold’ option on their platforms in partnership with MMTC-PAMP or SafeGold, under the Gold Accumulation Plan(GAP). SafeGold is a joint venture between Invent Capital, a private equity firm, and World Gold Council. Users can buy digital gold via online wallets and store in online accounts — which are linked to GAP. Why the digital mode? Digital gold is being touted as a “smart and economic investment option.” That’s because while the <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/pf/digital-gold-a-convenient-investment-method-or-a-ponzi-scheme-in-making-119041800720_1.html">prices of gold</a> may vary between 4%-5% on the retail price of gold from the actual price, the price variation on digital gold is said to vary between 1.5% to 2%. There’s also no storage cost for digital gold and can be kept for a maximum of five years period. After that, the user can either sell it or can be converted into gold jewellery. Ever since the launch, the digital gold market has seen strong growth, with an estimated over 80 million people who had digital accounts as of March 2019. But there are also concerns over the lack of <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/pf/digital-gold-a-convenient-investment-method-or-a-ponzi-scheme-in-making-119041800720_1.html">regulation</a> in the emerging sector. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/google-pays-new-tactic-to-take-on-rivals-paytm-phonepe-in-india-introduces-digital-gold-offerings/articleshow/68609832.cms">Google Pay wants to offer Indians their favourite investment option – gold</a>

This Indian festival popular for gold shopping has gone digital this year to lure millennials

<ul><li>In our latest series, we talk to brands about how they have been marketing during these adverse times, the things they have learnt and how they are preparing for the somewhat uncertain future.</li><li><keyword id="9451504" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="ranjani-krishnaswamy">Ranjani Krishnaswamy</keyword>, General Manager - Marketing, Jewellery Division, <keyword id="2028078" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Titan-Company-Limited">Titan Company Limited</keyword> believes that the future of retail and jewellery industry is secure.</li><li>She shared with us a few consumer shopping trends that point towards an optimistic growth pattern, Titan Jewellery’s unlocking plan and larger marketing strategy. </li></ul>One would assume that the pandemic has pushed consumers to prioritise food, home and shelter. However, the kind of response Titan Jewellery has seen from its audience during the lockdown proves that they are becoming more organised and want to be prepared in every field. With the volatility caused by COVID-led lockdown in the share market, consumers are turning to buy and invest in the yellow metal. Audience from metro cities, Tier I and Tier II are open to planning their long-term investments and are buying <keyword id="6379337" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="gold-jewellery">gold jewellery</keyword> to secure their future. As a result, Titan Jewellery saw 1 million visitors on its website, hinting that the market is slowly picking up its tide. To meet this demand from consumers, Titan decided to open 90% of its stores in India. The jewellery giant also upped its digital game by introducing video calling features, providing live assistance to consumers, facilitating appointment-based purchases and launching digital campaigns to help its consumers adjust to the new normal and address their queries phygitally. We further caught up with Ranjani Krishnaswamy, General Manager - Marketing, Jewellery Division, <keyword id="1824765" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Titan-company">Titan Company</keyword> Limited, who is optimistic about retail and jewellery industry’s future, to understand what else the brand has in its stores for the unlocking period, a few lessons the team has learnt during the lockdown and future of retail shopping in India. Excerpts: Q. Tell us a bit about your latest campaign. What is the idea behind it? How difficult was it to execute it considering the restrictions? As a responsible brand, Tanishq believes that every little act of kindness and support is a blessing earned. This campaign brings to life the concept of blessed gold which is fondly called Dua Ka Sona. The thought of crafting a campaign relevant to the current pandemic is based on empathy as an emotion. We are not just in the business of selling jewellery but we believe in valuing the craft and craftsman equally. It’s only when our Karigars thrive, we as a business will be purposeful and wholesome in its true sense. Through this campaign, we have attempted to showcase how our efforts during this pandemic translated into blessings. Dua Ka Sona 2.0 showcases the ethical, responsible and sustainable business practices employed by the brand since its inception. With an honest attempt to give back to the society, the brand has taken sincere and proactive steps to uplift and support the lives of karigars and help them deal with the effects of covid. Understanding and quickly nurturing the needs of the Karigars and community at large, Tanishq walked the complete mile to help more than 20,000 families in every way possible. From supplying essentials and medicines to the elderly, from providing food to over 15000 karigars and migrants to arranging special financial aid, from virtual up-skilling and vocational training to enable karigars to further polish their skill sets and strict adherence to sanitize and follow safety norms is all a part of the deeper Karigar connect program which have been showcased in the campaign. As a part of the Tata group, the very fabric of goodness is ingrained in our ethos. We further extended kindness in more ways by providing essentials, PPE’s and medicines to covid warriors and communities in need, thus helping the entire value chain involved in standing together in these trying times. Given the current restrictions, it was challenging to bring together this campaign in a no travel and no shoot scenario. Having said that, we were able to achieve the right balance of emotions and acts of kindness done in the covid context by borrowing some footage from the earlier campaign. Q. How difficult was the lockdown period for Tanishq? How are your preparations for unlocking going? What are the various precautions you have taken? The lockdown was tough on all businesses but I think staying positive and keeping a focus on the changing times has helped Tanishq stay optimistic and ahead of the curve. We launched e-Akshaya Tritiya during the lockdown and received a great positive response. We had close to 1+ million visitors/browsers on our website, indicating a lot of customer interest. The ticket size online has jumped 2.5 to 3 times than our usual online average ticket size. Today almost 90% of our stores are open and Tanishq customers are at the heart of everything we do. To make jewellery shopping experience seamless for our customers we introduced new digital features like video calling, live assistance and appointment based shopping at our stores and at Tanishq.co.in. Customers have the option of getting the products delivered at their doorstep or they can choose to visit the store by booking an appointment and try out the shortlisted products. We rolled out a ‘Gold Standard’ safety ebook that reiterates company’s commitment to safety and well-being of customers and its employees at the store. It covers all staff and customer touch points, entailing numerous safety measures, including contactless shopping and strict social distancing at all times. Now that stores are open, to disinfect jewellery, Tanishq is using UV Type C Chambers, safe for all metals. Q. What has your marketing strategy been during the lockdown? Did you modify your media mix, with marketing investments getting shifted from one medium to another? The core, or sole, of the brand hasn’t changed. What obviously changed was the medium. With the changing market and consumer behaviour, largely our focus has been on enhancing our digital platforms and taking the Omni channel route for marketing. The whole strategy has been about intensifying and recognising cohorts, and to be able to talk to them through digital, through our loyalty programs, through our stores, and build a more virtual relationship with them. Q. The pandemic and the lockdown has brought with it a lot of learning. What would you say have been your major learnings from this experience so far? The current pandemic and journey that we are going through is teaching us to pause, reflect, connect and move forward with resilience and positivity. But times like these urge us to be more agile, adaptable and turn a crisis into opportunities. Being fitter, faster, and stronger will be the key to managing ourselves, our ecosystem of partners &amp; Karigars &amp; more importantly in our service to our customers. Q. The kind of communications a brand comes up with during a crisis can either help win consumer trust and endear them to the brand or work completely the other way around. How did you ensure during the last months that you stay connected with your consumers? All throughout the lockdown, we were in constant touch with our consumers to check on their well-being through empathy calls and help was mobilized with delivery of essentials and medicines to our elderly customers wherever needed! Empathy was the need of the hour and Tanishq jumped headlong into this battle with the intention of helping out wherever and however India and our extended Tanishq family needed help. A significant part of the consumer journey in jewellery has been digitised like – Video calling, Virtual try on, Live chat on our website and book an appointment. These improved our assortment on lower and middle karatage products available on the website as per consumer demand and left no stone unturned to aid our consumers make their purchases online. Q. We are sure the future of retail and jewellery industry will never be the same. How are you making sure you opt to digital media, online selling policies and physical distancing need to help your consumer? I don’t think the future looks very bleak. Shopping trends and consumer shopping trends point towards an optimistic growth pattern and it’s a positive growth. We have developed our plan based on the vision of “Fitter Faster Stronger”. Fitter means being agile and adapting to the new normal with flexibility. Faster means the speed of execution to adapt to rapidly changing consumer preferences &amp; behaviours. And stronger means to come together to reach out and help each other to build back the value chain for the jewellery industry. Digital media is one of our core platforms for consumer engagement and we have built a virtual relationship with the Tanishq community. Engagement campaigns like real golden moments, Mother's day and Jewellery cleaning posts in the last 2 months were highly engaging and gave us higher than targeted engagement percentages. Tech features like live chats and remote selling through video calls are working well for us. Our store attendants showcase the jewellery by wearing it so customers are sure of how it looks before buying it. Physical distancing has also been enabled at stores where we’ve changed layouts so not more than 1-2 customers are inside the store shopping at any given point. Safety will be key for consumers and as India’s leading only national jeweller we have created safe, tech-supported, and digitized dynamic innovative ways of shopping.

90% of Tanishq stores are now open: Ranjani Krishnaswamy, Titan Company

Mobile brands have recently achieved huge success with online only retailing in India. There are a host of other products that seem interested in trying this exclusive online only distribution road. The question is can this model get similar success in product categories other than mobile?

	Worked for mobiles, inspiring other Motorola’s second innings in India has been a huge success and a significant credit for this goes to its exclusive online only retailing strategy. The company has launched three models in the last six months Moto G, Moto X and Moto E, all exclusively on <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> and no offline retailing. The brand is quite a hit among Indian consumers, so much so that it has dethroned Nokia from its number fourth position in the smartphone category in the country in the second quarter of this year (which April to June, 2014). Motorola shipped 955,650 smartphones as compared to Nokia that shipped 633,720 units of smartphones.

	China-based Xiaomi is another success as a result of exclusive <keyword id="681947" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="online-retailing">online retailing</keyword>. Inspired by this, products from other categories too are exploring exclusive online retailing. From apparels, video games, home appliances, even jewelleries, a whole new set of product categories are exploring this option.<o:p></o:p>

	Categories jumping the online only brandwagon 
	Global giant Amazon, which entered the Indian market last year has bagged exclusive rights to sell Microsoft’s Xbox gaming consoles. This includes the entire range of its Interactive Entertainment Business (IEB) portfolio including Xbox One, Xbox 360, Kinect, Xbox Live, Xbox Accessories and all Microsoft-published Xbox game titles. Commenting on this, Chakrapani Gollapali, Country General Manager - Consumer Channels Group, Microsoft Corporation India Pvt Ltd said in a press statement, “We believe this collaboration with Amazon gives us the platform to build scale at an unprecedented level for the gaming and entertainment category in India. This is the first time that we will be focusing on retailing our products through an ‘online only’ channel and we look forward to bringing the world’s most-loved gaming portfolio to Indian consumers through India’s largest and fastest growing online store Amazon.in."

	This is quite a significant step as Microsoft currently sells its Xbox 360 portfolio through offline retail channels. The company has said it will support the existing retail channels till 30th of August, 2014 and after that all Xbox sales will be exclusively through Amazon.in.

	Home appliances is another category which is exploring online only model. Whirlpool has made an exclusive deal with Amazon for its KitchenAid brand. Philips too is partnering with the online retailer for selling a lighting range.

	Even, jewellery brands are exploring exclusive online tie-ups. Online retailer Snapdeal has inked a deal with Satyug Gold for a designer jewellery collection range designed by popular actress Shilpa Shetty. Though, Satyug Gold will later launch this collection in its offline stores too.

	International apparel brands like Dorothy Perkins and Stanley Kane started this online only retail model by tying up with <keyword id="319719" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Myntra">Myntra</keyword>.com and Jabong.com. Lingerie online retailer Zivame, too, has some international brands which are selling in India exclusively through it.

	Saving on the infrastructure cost 
	One of the biggest advantages that is driving various products and brands to opt for online only distribution strategy is the big saving in terms of money, time, and resources that otherwise goes in building and nurturing a physical infrastructure.

	Moreover, with no middlemen involved, the online supply chain becomes much more efficient in terms of costs as well as time. This gives the brands to pass on part of the cost benefits to the consumer, creating a win-win situation.

	Not relevant for mass products 
	The recent success of Motorola and Xiomi has indicated that this online-only distribution can work for some product categories. Products which have a strong appeal among a specific set of customers have a better chance to succeed with an online-only model like smartphones or gaming consoles.

	In contrast, mass products like appliances may not have good chance with online-only retail for the sheer reason of the limited reach of Internet in the country, with 12% penetration.

	Mix of online-offline 
	For mass products, a mix of online and offline distribution model will be the best, considering the reach factor. The online will help manage costs, while offline will ensure the product reaches to every nook and cranny of the country.

	Challenge of touch, feel and trust 
	While the Indian consumers have slowly started to bring down their apprehensions against online purchases, the challenge is not gone completely, especially for certain categories. The problem of touch and feel remains a big deterrent for online buyers especially for products like clothes, jewellery, appliances, etc. Establishing the trust factor with consumers is another challenge, especially in tier 2 towns. That is where the challenge will lie for the online only retail model in the times to come, apart from the challenge of low Internet penetration.

Exclusive Online Retailing In India: Will It Work Beyond Technology Products?

<ul class="summary-list"><li>On Tuesday, <keyword id="56712" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Christies">Christie's</keyword> <a href="https://www.tatler.com/article/christies-breaks-world-record-expensive-d-diamond">auctioned off the most expensive</a> jewel ever sold on an online <keyword id="1639" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Auction">auction</keyword>. </li><li>The 28.86-carat diamond sold for over $2 million.</li><li>One of the rarest in the world, the Type 11a diamond was formed with pure carbon. </li></ul>Christie's just broke a world record.The auction house sold a 28.86-carat diamond for $2,115,000 in an online auction — the most expensive diamond to ever be auctioned online, <a href="https://www.tatler.com/article/christies-breaks-world-record-expensive-d-diamond">Annabelle Spranklen reported for Tatler.</a> The diamond <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonydemarco/2020/07/01/28-carat-d-color-diamond-sets-online-auction-record-of-21-million/#314892121885">sold for above its upper estimate of $2 million</a>, according to Forbes.The sale happened on Tuesday, the final day of Christie's Jewels Online sale. Spranklen writes that the diamond, a rare Type 11A, is classified as D-color, meaning it's one of the clearest <keyword id="6368047" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="diamonds">diamonds</keyword> in the world.It also <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/jewellery/biggest-d-colour-diamond-ever-auctioned-online-highlights-upcoming/">one of the rarest in the world</a>, due to the fact that it's emerald-cut and formed with pure carbon. According to the Telegraph, the diamond is completely colorless with no impurities — <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/jewellery/biggest-d-colour-diamond-ever-auctioned-online-highlights-upcoming/">under 2% of the world's diamonds</a> can be classified at Type 11A.The record-setting sale also bodes well for the auction house's future online auctions."The spectacular 28.86-carat D-color diamond received immediate attention upon its announcement," Christie's Head of Jewellery Rahul Kadakia said <a href="https://www.christies.com/about-us/press-archive/details?PressReleaseID=9699&amp;lid=1id=1">in a statement</a>. "The stone possesses a transparency and purity which can only be found in the world's finest diamonds. The sale of this exceptional stone established the record for a jewel sold in an online-only auction, demonstrating greater client confidence in Christie's digital ability and online sale platform."

A 28-carat diamond just became the most expensive jewel ever auctioned online after selling for over $2.1 million

Search giant <keyword id="693389" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Google">Google</keyword> is keen to promote the Indian SME segment and plans to get online some 50,000 <keyword id="6375845" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Small-and-medium-enterprises">small and medium enterprises</keyword> in <keyword id="6354766" type="COMPANY" weightage="80" keywordseo="Gujarat">Gujarat</keyword>, by the end of 2014. As part of <keyword id="45395" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Google-India">Google India</keyword>’s national campaign called India, Get Your Business Online, this initiative will offer free websites and hosting services to Gujarat-based <keyword id="44779" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="SMEs">SMEs</keyword>, in a bid to bridge the connectivity divide that hinders small businesses from accessing the global market. 
 Google India and HostGator are also involved in a special project in which the partners explored traditional industries like textile, jewellery and artefacts, located in the popular markets of Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot. In addition to developing websites for 5,000 small businesses under this project, Google India also created <keyword id="97416" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="Google-maps">Google Maps</keyword> listings and Google+ business pages for these firms. They can also make use of 24x7 customer support to manage their websites and get free online advertising credit that can be used on Google search to promote their businesses online. 
 Commenting on the project, <keyword id="249393" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Rajan-Anandan">Rajan Anandan</keyword>, vice-president and managing director of Google India, said, “The initiative aims to boost the SME ecosystem by giving them a simple, effective and free platform to get their business online. We aim to get 50,000 SMEs online, which will dramatically change the business landscape and opportunities for SMEs in Gujarat. 
 
“Our research has shown that SMEs, who use the Internet, see revenue growth of 51% and raise in profits by 49%. Gujarat already represents 10% of the total Internet population in the country and houses many export-oriented businesses. By being present on the Internet, they can make the world their market and continue to boost the economy of the country,” he added.

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