According to a press release, Keeping up with its well-established tradition of adding tangible value to the jewelry industry and trade, The Art of Jewellery (AOJ), commissioned an exclusive and in-depth nationwide survey on "Indian Jewelry Retail: Market Challenges &amp; Opportunities".

The survey was conducted by Market Source Consultancy Service (MSCS) and covered 500 prominent jewelry retailers in ten cities across India that comprise four metropolitan areas, namely Hyderabad, Bangalore, Indore, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Pune and Mumbai.

The complete details of the survey, along with its key findings, have been published in the special India International Jewellery Show (IIJS) issue of the magazine. This issue will be released during the IIJS to be held at the NSE grounds in Mumbai from August 19 to August 23.

"This is one of the many path-breaking initiatives undertaken by The Art of Jewellery brand for the benefit of the Indian jewelry trade. The survey findings will answer many key questions that will impact the way jewelry business is done", said Sumesh Wadhera, the managing director and chief editor of The Art of Jewellery.

"Last year at IIJS, we had published our first exclusive survey on the 'Changing Face of Indian Jewelry retailers' and going by the phenomenal response we received, we have continued the trend this year", Wadhera added.

The methodology adopted to conduct the survey included desk research, field research and data analysis and report writing.

Some of the survey's key findings include:

•Consumer buying preferences have changed drastically in the past couple of years. In diamonds, studded jewelry has been the major choice of customers, followed by solitaires. In gold jewelry, it was observed that 22-karat gold jewelry was the most popular jewelry compared with 23-karat and 18-karat gold. Over the years, there has also been an increase in platinum jewelry demand.

•Around 58 percent of the respondents preferred stocking general jewelry merchandise, while 42 percent preferred catering to a niche.

•Retailers were more inclined toward inhouse manufacturing due to its cost effectiveness and scope for customized designs, while 84 percent provided inhouse manufacturing services and 16 percent sourced from established jewelry manufacturers.

•Interestingly, retailers did not seem eager to stock jewelry brands; only 37 percent stocked jewelry brands and the other 63 percent did not seem very interested in doing so.

•Around 92 percent of retailers said that their future generation was interested in carrying the jewelry business forward.

•When asked about their forecast for gold prices, by December 2010, the majority of retailers expected gold prices to range between Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 23000 per 10 grams, which, according to them, would only affect their sales moderately, as consumers would still be willing to make gold jewelry purchases.

Ref: <a href="http://www.gjepc.org/news/view.aspx?NewsId=7777" target="_blank">GJEPC</a>