UAE jewellers put up biggest promotions ever

Dubai: It’s enough to convince anyone to put their faith in gold — jewellery chains in the UAE are mounting what are said to be the biggest sets of promotions ever to get shoppers back and start picking up their favourite metal. The magnitude of what is on offer is even bigger than what is traditionally offered during Dubai Shopping Festival, given that many of them are running concurrently in the other Gulf states too.

This, the gold trade believes, is a needed motivation to convince jewellery shoppers to spend in what is still an extremely difficult period for the overall retail sector. Another negative is that gold prices have been holding up, and early on Monday the Dubai price for 22K gold was Dh134.35 a gram. (The international price was $1,175 an ounce.)

The timing of the promotions have to do with the start of the Indian festive season and culminating with Diwali, the ‘festival of lights’ and a traditionally strong period for jewellery sales historically. Some retailers are looking to extend the promotions — or versions of it — through the holiday sales period right up to the year end. And come next January, they will have something new to offer for DSF 2016.

Damas has had an early start to the promotional series, confirming a 50 per cent discount on select jewellery collections. The tactical campaign will run only until mid-November and will cover all of the Gulf markets. The intention, according to Kevin Ryan, Retail Director at Damas, is to offer “something we’ve never done before — amazing prices on some of the most sought after brands. Due to the scale of the sale, we will only be running this for the month-long period.”

The last time the jewellery market had a rush of buying activity was for a three- to four-week period from mid-July when gold dipped below Dh130 a gram and even touched Dh124. So much pent-up buying got crammed into that period and since then “Summer holidays clubbed with negative sentiments affected business for almost three months,” said Abdul Salam K.P., member of the Board of Directors at Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group. “We are in need of a revival.”

This is where the promotions come in — Joy Alukkas is putting up 30 kilograms to be won through raffles up to November 14. In addition, it is instituting a instalment plan at 0 per cent interest over a 12-month period for jewellery purchases, and no making charges on 8-gram 22K gold coins.

Kalyan Jewellers’ enticement is via the promise of a Bentley for shoppers in the UAE and Kuwait, while Malabar Gold and Diamonds has lined up Dh5 million worth of gold coins, plus another incentive of zero deduction on 22K gold jewellery exchanges.

“The scale of what’s being offered has gone up so much that all the big names need to have one of their own to be heard,” said Cyriac Verghese, General Manager at Sky Jewellery, which will launch the first of its two campaigns from October 22, while the second will run until year end. Winners get to own two Mercedes-Benz models plus 99 gold bars.

“These days, if your brand and offers are not heard amidst all the competing noise, the shoppers tend to forget you.

“Each retailer is trying to flex their muscles and win over business — realistically, the next six months is more about ensuring survival than looking to book profits.”