De Beers to witness 15% jump in sales over pre-Covid year

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Ahead of the festive season, De Beers (newly christened De Beers Forevermark brand of diamonds) is likely to see a 10-15% jump in sales over the pre-Covid level of 2019, in 2021. The group had registered a dip of 17% sales in India during Covid 19-hit 2020 against its 2019 number. With upcoming festivals like Akshay Tritiya and the wedding season, it is expected that the demand will increase.

The MD of De Beers India Sachin Jain had said on the sidelines of Forevermark Forum, the annual B2B event, that the company is hopeful that 2021 will be a strong year.

The July and June sales have echoed strongly to the industry. The industry is buoyant and optimistic as new retailers are coming in,” he said.

The newly unveiled designer collection Avaanti and also company’s first global line also saw a good traction.

“We are piloting a Code of Origin project for diamond quality verification, which will be launched next year,” Jain said.

Around Rs 5 lakh crore worth of diamonds is likely to be in demand globally by 2030. The company is targeting a sale of 2,50,000 units of the diamond by 2021- end.

By 2022, De Beers India will also increase the number of its exclusive stores to 35  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.

The high-value diamond market has still not picked up on the online mode of buying.

Jain said that many potential buyers are spending time on new hybrid e-commerce sites for checking on product lines and doing research on designs before coming to outlets.

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 said.