Senco Gold Limited (SGL) was incorporated in August 1994 as a private limited company and was reconstituted as a public limited company in 2007. However, Senco as a brand is more than 85 years, with its journey in Dhaka Bangladesh and then Calcutta ,India. The company manufactures and retails plain and studded gold jewellery along with diamond, platinum, silver and fashion jewellery. Senco is the largest organized jewellery retail player in the eastern region of India, with more than 112 stores across India and 74 stores across the East – a total area of approximately 275, 000 sq. ft., in 72 cities and towns. A majority of its revenue is derived from the sale of light-weight gold jewellery products. It offers a large variety of designs of handcrafted jewellery, most of which are designed in-house by a team of designers in close collaboration with skilled local artisans or craftsmen (generally termed Karigars). While a majority of its showrooms, selling products under the ‘Senco Gold & Diamonds’, tradenames, are Company Operated Showrooms, it also markets its products through Franchised Showrooms allowing for an asset-light model aimed at minimising its capital expenditure.
The eight decades long track-record evokes consumers’ trust in its products. From its oldest operational showroom located in the Bowbazar area of Kolkata, where we have been present, through Senco Jewellery Museum (a family-run proprietary concern), for over seven decades, it has strategically expanded its presence to 14 states across India. The journey has been conferred with several prestigious awards like ‘Best Capital Management’ award by Business India publication in 2015; ‘Iconic Brand of India’ award by Economic Times in 2016-17; the ‘Gems of India’ award by All India Gems and Jewellery Federation in 2015-16; the ‘Leading Retailer of India’ by UBM in 2016 and 2014, and the list goes on. Its diverse jewellery collection is further adorned by an attractive price range (approximately Rs. 500 to approximately Rs. 500,000), so as to maximize its potential customer base.
DIFFERENTIATED FOCUS ON LIGHT, AFFORDABLE JEWELLERY INTENDED TO CATER TO THE MIDDLE CLASS AND YOUNGER GENERATION
Senco Gold’s wide range of offerings caters to diverse customer segments particularly, the middle class and younger generation. Accordingly, the light and affordable jewellery start at approximately Rs. 5,000. It has developed two specific ranges/ brands to target these demographics. Its Everlite collection of lightweight gold and diamond jewellery varies from Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 50,000 and is targeted at the ‘middle class’. Next, the Gossip collection caters to the silver and costume jewellery needs of its younger customers. The fast-moving, fashionable and easy-to-wear jewellery gives our customers freedom to change their jewellery with varying clothes preferences on different occasions. The Gossip collection is made of sterling silver or base metal with precious and semi-precious stones. The ‘ Vivaah’ collection focuses on the exclusive Wedding collection for the bride across the various cultures and geographies. ‘Aham’ is the jewellery for the stylish and confident man of today. ‘Perfect love’ is the diamond solitaire brand that is made with the best cut rarest of rare diamonds ,1% of all diamonds mined and cut , to provide the best of quality and products to customers .
Senco’s focus on design and innovation, with the ability to recognize consumer preferences and market trends, the intricacy of designs and the quality and finish of products are its key strengths. The wide range and variety of products demonstrate its ability to recognise trends in the jewellery industry, and access to a wide range of skilled local Karigars from West Bengal allows to offer a diverse product range, catering to changing consumer demands.
Moreover, Senco Gold has established a valuable presence in the digital space. The surging use of Internet in India and continued development of online channels help it in increasing customer reach and sales through the digital channel with relatively low investments.“Our strategy is to increase our business through the digital platform and leverage our manufacturing capability on creation of an asset-light sales channel thereby offering a seamless combination of both offline and online buying choice for customers”, remarks Suvankar Sen (CEO and ED of Senco Gold). Its online platform consists of more than jewellery products – gold coins for a varied range of customers. The brand has also started selling its products through various e-commerce aggregators. The online approach helps in extending to geographies beyond the reach of Showrooms and Franchise Showrooms.
PREMIUM MARKETING APPROACHES
Senco Gold invests in Premium grade marketing approaches to improve brand recall and increase footfalls in its showrooms. Hailing from the “City of Joy”, its marketing schemes addresses the city’s heritage and vary as per occasion, season and the needs of our customers and are tailored to befit occasions such as weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, Valentine’s Day, amongst others, when people customarily buy jewellery. ‘Diwali’ and ‘Dhanteras’ are two of the biggest jewellery buying festivals, during which season it generally records high sales. It alsocapitalises on ‘Akshay Tritiya’ or new years of various states such as West Bengal, Odisha and Maharashtra to promote sales. Furthermore, it provides promotional offers during local and regional festivals such as ‘RathYatra’, ‘Ganesh Chaturthi’, ‘Teej’, ‘Bihu’ and ‘Durga Puja’, amongst others, in order to achieve higher than normal sales during these festivals. During the wedding season, its marketing campaigns are envisioned with its lightweight gold jewellery. With its Everlite and Gossip collections, it aims to cater to the younger generation and the ‘Middleclass’ of India. The brand has appointed eminent Bollywood icon Vidya Balan and Prince of Calcutta Sourav Ganguly, as brand ambassadors to enhance brand presence and market its products.
NAVIGATING THROUGH PANDEMIC
During the lockdown period, jewellery industry went through multiple challenges. At one end, the product – being discretionary spending and not a necessity – was not a preferred buy during the initial phases. However, once the unlock phase happened, the rising price of gold as a commodity brought about a lot of confidence and a positive attitude towards the category. It adopted an innovation and human -first strategy as part of the new normal and embraced various technology-led initiatives to connect with its customers. Jewellery shopping was managed through video calling and e-commerce platforms for a smoother customer experience, the introduction of E-catalogues and Virtual trial rooms were some of the innovations brought in. It tried to ensure corporate social responsibility, take care of community and support the human resources of the company. With the full positive mindset, the company moved forward with faith in God and human efforts of team.
A LEAGUE OF POLISHED LEADERS AND ‘KARIGARS’
Crafting customized jewellery needs a fine set of hands and minds , and Senco Gold has 250 of best karigars and 1700 team members . This includes industry leaders like Mr Sanjay Banka (CFO), Mr Surendra Gupta (Compliance Officer and Company Secretary),Mr Sanjay Banerjee (COO) Mr D.Baral (CTO), Ms Shubashri Sengupta (CHRO), and many more seniors with vast experiences in production various Zonals managers, Dept. heads, Showroom managers and Assistant managers; and a colossal team of Its workforce is distributed between head office and its factory. Suvankar Sen holds the mantle of CEO. His presence has integrated Senco Gold and Diamonds with technology in the workspace and let consumers be the voice of the brand, and get the team motivated to move forward with hope and positivity. The Company scales its growth on 5 key points, “Trust and Transparency”, “Design”, “Handcrafted Karigari and support to Karigars”, “Delight and service to customers” and “Blend tradition with technology”. The leaders and karigars maintain a transparent and holistic relation that brings out the anticipated quality. Its heirloom-quality has earned “India’s 5th Most Trusted Jewellery Brand” Brand Trust Report (India Study).
AN ETERNAL FOCUS ON CUSTOMER DELIGHTS
The brand is envisioned to continue to delight its customers and stakeholders by providing lifestyle and accessories, which shall cater to local needs and global trends. It has survived for 80 years and the brand is gearing for the next 100, adopting technology and trends in jewellery with a purpose to reach out to customers across the country and the world. Through its tech-inclusiveness, it aims to create a seamless movement of goods between the real and virtual world and be a part of the metaverse.
FROM THE CEO’S DESK
“As an entrepreneur, my advice to everyone will be, vision and execution need to go hand in hand. Entrepreneurs need to believe in their vision and fill in the gaps with apt team members to fulfil the vision. Challenges will come, but like fire refines gold and make it pure, challenges and overcoming them will make you a stronger individual and a more successful entrepreneur”.
